German authorities have arrested two Iraqi nationals suspected of having fought for ISIS in Iraq between 2015 and 2016, following an investigation triggered by information received by the Federal Criminal Police Office.
The two men were arrested in the western German towns of Höxter and Bottrop in North Rhine-Westphalia. According to information attributed to the Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor’s Office, investigators suspect that both men fought alongside ISIS in Iraq from at least mid-2015 until the end of 2016.
Police searched their homes as part of the operation and seized mobile phones and laptops, which are expected to form part of the continuing investigation.
The arrests followed a tip received by Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office, known as the BKA, which subsequently led investigators to the two suspects.
German authorities have so far found no evidence suggesting that the men were preparing an attack inside Germany.
Investigation focuses on suspected ISIS activity in Iraq
The allegations concern the suspects’ activities in Iraq during a period when ISIS continued to control significant territory and carried out widespread crimes against civilians.
The available information does not specify where in Iraq the two men are suspected of having operated, which ISIS units they may have belonged to, or whether investigators are examining their possible involvement in crimes committed against particular victims or populations.
For that reason, there is currently no basis to connect either suspect directly to the genocide against Ezidis or other specific ISIS crimes.
The investigation nevertheless forms part of the continuing effort by European authorities to identify and prosecute individuals suspected of having joined ISIS before later entering or residing in Europe.
Germany has previously prosecuted former ISIS members not only for membership in a terrorist organisation, but in some cases for international crimes committed against Ezidis. The present case, however, remains at the investigative stage and the two men have not been convicted.
The arrests also come amid continuing scrutiny across Europe of former ISIS members and supporters who returned or travelled from Iraq and Syria after the territorial collapse of the organisation.
