German police search apartments in Chechen extremism probe

FRANKFURT – Police conducted simultaneous raids on premises in five German states Tuesday as part of an investigation into Chechen asylum-seekers suspected of involvement in Islamic extremism.

Officers searched 13 dwellings across the country following a yearlong probe of a 28-year-old Russian citizen of Chechen background who is suspected of intending to join the fighting in Syria on behalf of the Islamic State group. The investigation later developed into a probe of 10 further men and three women suspected of financing extremist activity.

All were Chechens with Russian citizenship seeking asylum in Germany, and whose status has not yet been decided, police in the eastern region of Thuringia said.

There was no concrete danger of an imminent attack, they said in a statement, adding that further information would be releasing during the course of the day.

Some 5,277 Russian citizens applied for asylum in Germany during the first six months of the year. Officials say that more than two-thirds of them are estimated to be Chechens.