Germany arrests 2 Syrian extremists, 1 accused of war crimes

German authorities have arrested two Syrians suspected of being members of the extremist Nusra Front, one of whom is alleged to have been involved in the murder of dozens of civilians, according to ABC News.

The federal prosecutor's office said Thursday that 35-year-old Abdalfatah H.A. is suspected of war crimes over the killing of 36 Syrian government employees by his unit in March 2013.

A spokeswoman for the prosecutors' office, Frauke Koehler, declined to confirm German media reports that the man came to Germany as an asylum-seeker.

The other suspect, 26-year-old Abdulrahman A.A., belonged to the same combat unit as Abdalfatah H.A. and both participated in an armed battle against Syrian government troops, including taking over a big arms depot near Mahin in November 2013.

The men, whose surnames weren't published due to German privacy rules, were arrested Thursday and Wednesday in the western cities of Duesseldorf and Giessen and their apartments were raided. They were due to appear before a judge Thursday.

Source: MENA