An Iraqi man who is accused of standing by to carry out attacks for the Islamic State (ISIS) group after he arrived in Germany in 2022 has been arrested, prosecutors said Thursday, according to The Associated Press.
The suspect, identified only as Mahmoud A. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested on Wednesday in Esslingen, near Stuttgart in southwestern Germany, federal prosecutors said in a statement.
A judge ordered him to be kept in custody on suspicion of membership in a foreign terrorist organization pending a possible indictment, according to the report.
He is accused of joining ISIS in Iraq in or before May 2016 and fighting for the extremist group.
Prosecutors said that Mahmoud A. arrived in Germany in October 2022 and stood by to carry out attacks on behalf of the organization.
Germany has been on high alert for possible Islamist attacks for several years and especially since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7.
The country's domestic intelligence chief warned that the risk of such assaults is "real and higher than it has been for a long time".
In late October, police in the western German city of Essen arrested a man who plotted to attack a pro-Israel demonstration.
In December, a 15-year-old boy was arrested in western Germany on suspicion of planning a possible attack on a Christmas market.
Weeks later, German police arrested three people over an alleged attack plot targeting the cathedral in Cologne on New Year's Eve.
In late May, German authorities arrested two men suspected of plotting a knife attack on worshippers at a synagogue in the southwestern city of Heidelberg.
Earlier this month, anti-terrorism prosecutors in Germany took over an investigation into a knife attack in Mannheim that killed a police officer.