Teenage brothers detained on suspicion of terrorist ties; arrests highlight fears of security risks with wave of migrants
BERLINAustrian police arrested two teenage asylum seekers from Syria suspected of having ties to terrorist organizations, in the latest example of potential security risks posed by migrants streaming to Europe.
Two brothers age 16 and 18 were arrested last week at a refugee shelter in the southeastern town of Lebring, the prosecutor's office in Graz said Wednesday. The arrests were made following a tip from Germany, where the elder brother of the two is under investigation for suspected involvement with Islamic State, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office said.
The German federal prosecutor's office declined to comment.
The 16-year-old is suspected of being a member of Islamic State while his older brother is suspected of belonging to the Islamist group Ahrar al-Sham, said a spokesman for the prosecutor's office in Graz, where the brothers are being detained. Their names weren't disclosed.
The move is the latest in a series of recent arrests highlighting fears among security officials and politicians in Europe that Islamist terrorists could be using the refugee tide to enter Europe.
Last week, Austrian police arrested two people at a Salzburg refugee shelter who they suspect of being involved in the terror attacks in Paris last month.
According to a person familiar with the matter, the two men were from Afghanistan and Algeria and had entered Europe with fake Syrian passports via the Greek island of Leros with people later involved in the Paris attacks.
At least two members of the terrorist cell that killed 130 people in a series of attacks in Paris on Nov. 13 are known to have entered Europe through Greece as refugees using fake passports.
The spokesman for the Graz prosecutor said he was unaware of any connection between the arrests in Graz and Salzburg.
Western security officials have voiced concern about the risk that among the millions of migrants flocking to Europe there could also be members of terror organizations.
"Given the current migration flow to Germany, it can't be excluded that there are also people with criminal backgrounds, war criminals, members of terrorist or militant groups as well as individuals with extremist ideologies among the migrants," said a spokesman for the German interior ministry this week. German security authorities have so far launched less than 10 investigations on such suspicions, the spokesman said.
Also last week, German police arrested a Syrian refugee suspected of links to Islamic State. The man was released later that same day after denying such links, according to a German prosecutor.