Germany has arrested five men suspected of setting up a network to recruit fighters to go to Syria and fight alongside Islamic State.  

The arrests happened during raids in the states of Lower Saxony and North-Rhine Westphalia.

Prosecutors accuse the five suspects of setting up a "jihadist network" to recruit figthers to go to Syria and fight alongside Islamic State.

The main suspect was identified as a 32-year-old Iraqi man. The other four included two German nationals, a Turk and a Cameroon national.

German Interior Mionister Thomas de Maiziere welcomed news of their arrests 

"We don't want terrorism to happen in Germany, we don't want terrorism to be exported from Germany and we want to avoid people being radicalised so much that they are in danger of becoming terrorists," he said. 

Fears about Islamist attacks in Germany rose in July, after attacks in Munich and near Stuttgart that were carried out by asylum seekers in the name of Islamic State.

Officials think well over 800 people have left Germany to war zones in Syria and Iraq and worry they could pose a security threat once they return home.

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