Teenager with suspected IS ties detained in Germany

  21 September 2016    Read: 921
Teenager with suspected IS ties detained in Germany
A teenaged Syrian refugee has been arrested in Germany on suspicion of links to the self-styled "Islamic State" group. Authorities described the young man as a "serious threat" who had been in touch with fighters abroad.
The unnamed 16-year-old boy was detained by a special counterterrorism unit late Tuesday in the refugee shelter where he lived in the Porz district of Cologne.

In a statement Wednesday, police and prosecutors said information gleaned from his mobile phone showed he was in touch with IS and "wanted to recruit the young Syrian for Islamist activities," authorities said.

The statement did not say how it had intercepted the communications but did note that a 35-strong investigation team has been detailed to follow the case. Authorities added that it was believed his "radicalization" had begun relatively recently.

Germany is in a heightened state of alert following deadly attacks in neighboring France and Belgium as well as lone wolf attacks in which young asylum seekers were apparently "radicalized" and went on rampages such as the axe-attack on a train in Würzburg and a suicide bombing in Ansbach.

Both attacks rattled Germans` sense of security and fuelled concerns over the country`s record influx of migrants and refugees last year.

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