German officers raid homes in search of IS members

BERLIN – German police raided homes in four states on Wednesday in connection with three people suspected of links to the Islamic State group, authorities said.

Apartments and other locations were searched in Berlin, Bavaria, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt on Wednesday morning, federal prosecutors’ spokeswoman Frauke Koehler said in a statement.

Two suspects are accused of membership in a terrorist organization on allegations they belong to IS, while the third is suspected of supporting a terrorist organization. Two are also accused of weapons violations.

The raids were carried out to collect evidence in the ongoing investigation and no arrests were made.

Prosecutors say the suspects are believed to be connected to a Syrian arrested in 2016 who was suspected of planning a bombing attack, and another Syrian arrested last week in Leipzig on IS membership charges.

In a separate case, a 31-year-old Algerian man was convicted in a Berlin district court of supporting IS. He was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison.

Fayssal M. B. was convicted, among other things, of wiring 400 euros ($435) in 2014 to an IS member in Syria through a middleman in Turkey, to pay for a night-vision device and a scope.

The court said the defendant was a “fanatical” supporter of IS who had not sought to distance himself from the group during his trial.