The Federal Prosecutor's Office of Germany has charged seven citizens from Central Asia with creating a terrorist group, participating in it, and supporting the terrorist organization "Islamic State" (IS). The accused were detained in North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany last summer and have been in custody since then. Among them are two citizens of Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan, and five from Tajikistan. They have known each other for a long time and share radical Islamic views, according to the prosecutor's office.
According to the authorities, the accused entered Germany from Ukraine in the spring of 2022 and formed a terrorist group in the country to carry out attacks. They regularly met, surveyed potential attack targets, and attempted to procure weapons. However, at the time of their arrest, law enforcement emphasizes that they did not have a specific attack plan. The detainees were also in contact with members of the IS unit in Afghanistan, IS-Khorasan.
Additionally, except for one member of the group, the accused raised money for IS and from April 2022 to May 2023, they transferred several thousand euros to the terrorists.
