German police Tuesday arrested three men with forged Syrian passports accused of being Islamic State (ISIS) militants and labelled a possible "sleeper cell" with links to the Paris attackers.
More than 200 police commandos took part in the pre-dawn raids in northern Germany to detain the men, who were suspected of either plotting an attack or awaiting orders to commit one.
Government officials in Germany have warned ofhundreds of potential terrorists lurking within Greman territory and mingling in German society after several ISIS-inspired attacks were committed in the past months . Today's operation represents part of the effort to counter the terror threat.
The men arrested were identified only as Mahir al-H., 17, Ibrahim M., 18, and Mohamed A., 26, in a statement issued by federal prosecutors.
They had left Syria last October and travelled via Turkey and Greece - a route used by tens of thousands of refugees and migrants - arriving in Germany in mid-November. READ MORE
