German police have arrested five people accused of involvement with a far-right group calling itself “Last Wave of Defence”, which allegedly aimed to carry out attacks on asylum seekers, migrants and political opponents.

The early-morning arrests on Wednesday in various parts of Germany followed arson attacks on a community centre and a refugee shelter.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 items

end of list

Germany’s Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig said in a statement that what was “particularly shocking is that all those arrested today are said to have been minors when the terrorist group was founded”.

According to federal prosecutors, 13 properties were also searched on Wednesday as part of the operation.

Four of those arrested – identified only as Benjamin H, Ben-Maxim H, Lenny M and Jason R, in line with German privacy rules – are suspected of membership in a domestic terrorist organisation.

The fifth, Jerome M, is accused of supporting the group. Two of the arrested are also accused of attempted murder and aggravated arson. Their ages were not disclosed.

Advertisement

Prosecutors said they are also investigating three other people who are already in custody.

According to the prosecutors, the group was formed in mid-April 2024 or earlier.

They said that its members saw themselves as the last resort to defend the “German nation” and aimed to bring about the collapse of Germany’s democratic order.

Two of the suspects set a fire at a cultural centre in Altdobern in eastern Germany in October, prosecutors alleged, adding that several people living in the building at the time escaped injury only by chance.

In January, another two suspects allegedly broke a window at a home for asylum seekers in Schmolln and tried unsuccessfully to start a blaze by setting off fireworks.

They daubed the group’s initials and slogans such as “Foreigners out,” “Germany for the Germans” and “Nazi area” on the walls, as well as swastikas, prosecutors said.

Also in January, three suspects allegedly planned an arson attack on a home for asylum seekers in Senftenberg, but it never came about because of the earlier arrests of two of the men.

Politically motivated crimes in Germany surged about 40 percent to a record high last year, a report by the interior ministry showed on Tuesday, with an especially sharp growth seen in far-right violence.

In recent years, anti-immigrant and refugee sentiments have grown in Germany, with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) expanding its number of seats in the German parliament on an anti-immigrant platform in elections earlier this year.

Advertisement

Chancellor Friedrich Merz had also campaigned on dramatically tightening border policy and bringing irregular migration to a halt. Since taking office under a coalition, his government has also laid out a range of tougher proposals, including suspending family reunification for many refugees, and implementing plans for deportations to previously excluded countries such as Syria and Afghanistan.