German police on Thursday arrested three Algerians suspected of links to the Islamic State group after raids targeting several sites, including refugee shelters where some of the suspects lived.
In all, four Algerians “from the jihadist scene are under investigation over suspicions that they are planning a serious act threatening the security of the state”, Berlin police said.
The group was suspected of planning a possible strike against the German capital, a spokesman for Berlin prosecutors told AFP.
The alleged involvement of Algerians in an IS plot and the link to refugee shelters is expected to add fuel to a raging debate over the 1.1 million asylum seekers that Germany took in last year.
North African migrants have already been in the spotlight after they were blamed for a rash of sexual assaults during New Year Eve’s festivities in the western German city of Cologne.