Arrest teams of the Bundeskriminalamt stormed at least 61 homes and apartments in eleven of the sixteen German federal states early on Wednesday morning. Four people have been arrested so far, including leaders of well-known violent neo-Nazi groups such as Combat 18 and Atomwaffen Division. Among the detainees is also an active soldier, a non-commissioned officer of the German armed forces.
According to the authorities, years of investigation preceded the action. The aim is to dismantle a network that is building infrastructure for violent actions. The action takes place in the context of five different judicial investigations. Suspects have been arrested on suspicion of, among other things, setting up a terrorist organization and membership of a criminal organization.
The investigation focuses mainly on the Atomwaffen Division, a far-right group that emerged in 2015 from the neo-Nazi scene in the United States. Supporters of the movement are held responsible for five murders there. The group is said to be building a militant infrastructure in Germany, and to this end cooperate with existing neo-Nazi organizations there.
Deadly Violence
Several neo-Nazi groups are active in Germany and continue to show their willingness to use deadly force. In 2019, a right-wing extremist shot dead two passers-by at a synagogue in Halle, near Leipzig. He had tried in vain to enter the synagogue. That same year, a neo-Nazi shot and killed German CDU politician Walter Lübecke. He had spoken out in favor of generous reception of Syrian refugees. In 2020, a right-wing extremist shot dead eight Turkish and Kurdish Germans in Hanau, near Frankfurt.
At the same time, it regularly appears that the extreme right is deeply rooted in parts of the German state. Last year, the federal state of Hesse closed down the entire Frankfurt Spezialeinsatzkommando, comparable to the Dutch Special Intervention Service, due to widespread right-wing extremist sympathies. The same thing happened a year earlier with a company of the KSK, the command troops of the army.
Further reporting will follow.