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Four suspected right-wing terrorists arrested in Germany

Berlin - Four suspected right-wing extremists arrested in Germany on Wednesday were planning attacks on mosques and asylum-seeker homes, prosecutors said.

The three men and a woman who were arrested in early morning police raids across the country were among people who founded a terrorist group known as the Oldschool Society to carry out the attacks, according to prosecutors.

Two of the accused, a 56-year-old man and a 39-year-old man, are alleged to have been ringleaders of the group, which is thought to have been founded in November.

A 47-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman was also arrested in the raids, which were conducted by 250 police officers in five states - Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria, Rhineland Palatinate and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

The Oldschool Society described itself on its Facebook page as "a connection of like-minded people who live according to German culture and values." The site also included photos of extreme-right demonstrations.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maziere said it was possible that the group had plans to build an organization similar to the National Socialist Underground (NSU), which carried out a series of racially motivated slayings in Germany from 2000 to 2006.

Prosecutors are also investigating a further five suspects whose homes were also searched during the raids and who, prosecutors said, had acquired explosive devices. However, they were not arrested.

Pyrotechnic material along with other evidence was seized during the police raids. The targets of planned attacks have yet to be identified by prosecutors.

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