MAINZ, Germany — Five alleged members of a far-right terror group behind a series of bombings were arrested in Germany early Tuesday.
The suspects are thought to be connected to at least three attacks using explosives — including two targeting centers housing migrants and refugees.
The federal prosecutor’s office said members of the elite "GSG 9" SWAT-style force were among 200 police officers involved in the raids on several apartments in the eastern state of Saxony.
Four men and one woman were detained. Due to German privacy rules, they were identified only as 18-year-old Justin S., 39-year-old Rico K., 27-year-old Maria K., 25-year-old Sebastian W., and 26-year-old Mike S.
According to a statement released by prosecutors, at least three other men aged in their 20s belonged to the extremist group. They remained in investigative custody on Tuesday.
The so-called “Gruppe Freital” — or “Group Freital” — dates back to at least July, officials said. Freital is a town just outside Dresden, Germany.
Prosecutors said that the eight are suspected of forming the right-wing group to attack centers housing asylum-seekers as well as the dwellings of people with differing political views.
They allegedly obtained a three-digit number of pyrotechnic charges from the Czech Republic.
Germany has witnessed a rise in far-right attacks after the country took in more than a million refugees during in 2015.
Investigators stepped up their monitoring of far-right extremists following a murder spree by the so-called National Socialist Underground (NSU), a neo-Nazi terror cell which went undetected for more than 7 years.
Beate Zschaepe, the only known surviving member of the NSU, remains on trial. She has been dubbed the "Nazi Bride" by German media and "Hitler child" by anti-racism demonstrators.