German police conducted a nationwide raid on Wednesday, targeting 19 properties across six federal states in an operation against suspected members of the so-called Brigade N’hamedu, a group classified as a domestic terrorist organization by the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office in Karlsruhe.

The raid, which involved over 200 police officers, did not result in any arrests as of the latest reports. The 17 individuals targeted are accused of founding or being members of the German chapter of Brigade N’hamedu, an international network aimed at overthrowing the government of Eritrea.

The suspects are alleged to have participated in violent riots at an Eritrean cultural festival in Giessen, Hesse, in August 2022 and 2023, and an Eritrean association seminar in Stuttgart in September 2023, where several police officers were injured. Another suspect, a senior figure in the Dutch and German chapters of Brigade N’Hamedu, was sentenced to four years in prison by a Dutch court for leading riots in The Hague earlier in 2024.

Eritrea, located in the Horn of Africa, gained independence from Ethiopia after a 30-year war concluding in 1991. Since then, the country has been ruled by a one-party state that has not held any national elections.

Germany has a significant Eritrean community, with over 80,000 Eritrean nationals and those of Eritrean descent residing within the country, according to the German Foreign Office. The operation to combat the suspected local arm of the Brigade N’hamedu highlights the international reach of political tensions originating from Eritrea.

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-police-raids-target-eritrean-terror-group/a-72041301?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf