The State Criminal Police Office (LKA) in Mainz, Germany announced several arrests in connection with a right-wing terror group that has been plotting to overthrow the German government to create "a civil war-like" situation, DW reported.
According to police statements, the group called Vereinte Patrioten (German for United Patriots) has been using a group chat to plan a series of bombing attacks in the country, with the aim of toppling the German government.
English-language @dwnews report on today's arrests in counter-terrorism investigation into right-wing extremism-motivated #VereintePatrioten ('United Patriots') group in #Germany that allegedly plotted bombing attacks on energy grid to cause civil war.https://t.co/ZlMgmu7ssI pic.twitter.com/iCd60WDye4
— Daniel H. Heinke (@daniel_heinke) April 13, 2022
Investigations revealed that bombing attacks were going to target Germany's energy infrastructure in particular, as culprits believed such attacks could cause "lasting nationwide power outages" which could eventually "lead to a civil war-like situation". Yet, police reports noted that Vereinte Patrioten's terror plans were not limited to bombing attacks and that it also included schemes to start a number of other violent activities across the country.
The police announcement came on Wednesday, about a week after another series of police raids against Nazi-linked groups, named by DW as Atomwaffen Division" (AWD), "Combat 18" (C18), and "Knockout 51" (K51).
Germany could ,or maybe should, give lessons to every country about how to control the extreme right. Their members are very dangerous.
— Ursula Antiglobal (@UAntiglobal) April 13, 2022
In any case it just comes to prove that there are neo-nazi groups everywhere and nobody bombs Germany, for example, with that excuse. https://t.co/3VOGacwoGl
In response to the news, online people expressed growing concern about a possible rise of right-wing groups across Europe, warning that it comes at a particularly critical time for the continent that is already facing its largest military conflict since World War II, as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine.
Other commentators praised German police units for prompt and effective tracking operations that stopped extremist right-wing groups before they successfully attacked their targets.
