Germany has arrested two men suspected of being members of a Syrian terrorist organisation, the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office announced on Thursday.
One of the men, identified only as Amer A. under Germany's strict privacy laws, is said to have been the founder and leader of the armed rebel group Liwa Jund al-Rahman. According to the prosecutor’s office, he is suspected of war crimes in Syria.
In 2013, for instance, he was allegedly involved in an attack on the village of Hatlah in northeastern Syria, which killed 60 residents. The village was looted, set on fire and the Shiite residents expelled.
The second suspect, Basel O., is also said to have held a leading military position within the rebel group during the same period.
One suspect was arrested in Kiel, northern Germany, and the other in Munich.
Searches have been carried out and the two men are being provisionally held in prison.
