Four Held In German Right-Wing Extremist Raids

Four people accused of setting up a right-wing extremist group to attack mosques and housing for asylum seekers have been arrested during raids in Germany.

Police held three men and a woman and seized explosives during the operation involving 250 investigators on homes in Saxony and four other states, the federal prosecutor's office said.

Prosecutors claim the four helped found the "Old School Society" group and were also planning to attack well-known members of the extreme Islamic Salafist scene in Germany.

The four arrested, identified only as Andreas H, 56, Markus W, 39, Denise Vanessa G, 22, and Olaf O, 47, are being held on terrorism charges and are also accused of having procured explosives.

Andreas H and Markus W were identified by prosecutors as the group's president and vice president.

The prosecutors' statement said: "According to current investigations, it was the group's goal to conduct attacks in smaller groups inside Germany on well-known Salafists, mosques and asylum-seeker centres.

"For this purpose the four arrested procured explosives for possible terror attacks by the group."

Prosecutors said they are still trying to determine whether the group had concrete attack plans and refused to comment further.

Inquiries made to an apparent mobile phone number and email address for the group were not immediately returned.

The raids came days after police claimed to have foiled a possible Islamist terror attack on cycling race attended by thousands every year in Frankfurt.

They also took place against a backdrop of tension in Germany following months of anti-Islam protests spearheaded by the PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against The Islamisation Of The West) group.

Right-wing extremists have been a renewed focus for German intelligence agencies after it came to light that a neo-Nazi group calling itself National Socialist Underground (NSU) allegedly killed eight Turks, a Greek and a policewoman between 2000 and 2007.

It is also believed to be behind two bombings and 15 bank robberies.

The group's sole survivor, Beate Zschaepe, and four alleged supporters are currently on trial in Munich.

The group's existence only came to light in late 2011, after Zschaepe's alleged accomplices, Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Boenhardt, died in an apparent murder-suicide following a botched bank robbery.