Germany Investigates 350 People Over Involvement With Islamic State

MOSCOW, January 18 (Sputnik) – A hundred terrorist cells operating in Germany are being monitored by the country's authorities that also have 350 people under investigation for suspected ties with Islamic State (IS) extremists, German media report.

According to Welt am Sonntag, the 100 terrorist cells range from 10 to 80-member groups that have been spreading online propaganda and collecting funds for terror-related purposes. Some of the group members have recently returned from Syria.

Earlier, German Justice Minister Heiko Maas told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that German authorities are investigating 350 suspects over their possible involvement with IS, a Sunni jihadist group also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), that has been operating in Syria and Iraq.

Militants who have travelled to Syria, Iraq and other war-torn regions to fight for various extremist groups, such as IS, often return back to home countries to conduct terrorist attacks on behalf of the radical organizations they are involved with.

According to BBC, 600 German citizens, as well as around 600 British and over 1,300 French nationals are believed to be currently fighting in Syria and Iraq.

Over the past week France has suffered three terrorist attacks involving Islamic radicals, resulting in the deaths of 17 people in the Paris area.