Two Suspected Hezbollah Members Arrested in Northern Germany

The German Federal Prosecutor's Office has announced the arrest of two suspected members of the Hezbollah terrorist organization in northern Germany. According to the authorities, the individuals are accused of being active in the group's activities abroad for several years.

Officials from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) arrested a Lebanese man and a man with German and Lebanese citizenship in the districts of Aurich and Cuxhaven in Lower Saxony. The suspects are believed to be members of a terrorist organization abroad.

The German-Lebanese suspect is accused of serving as a foreign functionary for Hezbollah since at least 2004 and being a member of the "Al-Radwan Battalion," an elite unit of the group's military wing. In 2012, he became the chairman of the "Al-Mustafa Community," which was banned in 2022, in Bremen. He is also alleged to have organized events for preachers and co-founded a youth group associated with the organization. In late 2015 or early 2016, he is said to have been in Syria, supporting the fighting units of the "Al-Radwan Battalion."

The second suspect, a Lebanese citizen, is accused of being part of the organization for at least seven years. He worked in the group's foreign relations department and was responsible for managing Lebanese associations, mainly in northern Germany. In 2018, he allegedly organized a meeting of Lebanese associations in Germany at the behest of the organization. In 2022, he appeared several times as a preacher in the "Al-Mustafa Community."

Both suspects are due to be presented to a federal court judge today, who will decide whether to place them in investigative custody.

The arrest of the two alleged Hezbollah members comes amid heightened concern in Germany over the activities of the Iran-backed group, which has been designated a terrorist organization by several countries, including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.