Top Radical Islamists With Daesh Ties Busted in German Anti-Terror Raid

In an early-morning raid German police arrested five terror suspects including "Abu Walaa," described as "the worst" figure among German Islamists, German media reported on Tuesday.

Police in the North German states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony have arrested five Islamist terror suspects with links to the Daesh terror group, German news outlets WDR, NRD and Suddeutsche Zeitung reported on Tuesday.

"This is an important blow to the extremist scene in Germany. The prosecutor's office is investigating because there is a suspicion of connections with the Islamist State (Daesh)," German Federal Justice Minister Heiko Maas commented on the raid.

Raids were carried out on apartments in Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, and a mosque in Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, was also searched. During the course of the raid, police detained five men alleged to have been recruiting followers for the Daesh terror group. 

Among those arrested is Ahmad Abdelaziz A., a 32-year-old immigrant from Iraqi who calls himself Abu Walaa and is also known as the "preacher without a face." 

German security services call Abu Walaa "the worst" of Germany's Islamists, who became a central figure on the Islamist scene after arriving in Germany 15 years ago. 

Walaa uses Facebook and chat groups to recruit followers, and even has his own app, NDR reported.

A 22-year-old Daesh follower from Germany called Anil O. told NDR at a meeting in Turkey in July that Walaa is "the number one for IS (Daesh) in Germany)," and his mosque in Hildesheim is the first place of call for people who want to join the terror group.