German teens arrested in right-wing terror plot targeting migrants

German authorities on May 21 arrested five teenagers suspected of involvement in a right-wing extremist group that called itself “Last Defence Wave,” which allegedly planned attacks aimed at destabilising the country’s democratic institutions.

According to a statement from federal prosecutors, the arrests, carried out in early morning raids across several regions of Germany, were accompanied by searches at 13 separate properties, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

Four of the teenagers — identified only as Benjamin H., Ben-Maxim H., Lenny M., and Jason R., in line with German privacy laws — are suspected of being members of a domestic terrorist organisation. A fifth teen, Jerome M., is accused of providing support to the group. All five are between 14 and 18 years old. Two of them also face charges of attempted murder and aggravated arson.

Prosecutors noted that three additional suspects, aged between 18 and 21, are also under investigation and currently in custody. All the individuals involved are German nationals.

According to the authorities, the extremist group is believed to have formed in or before mid-April 2024. The group’s members viewed themselves as the “last resort” to protect what they saw as the endangered “German nation,” and aimed to dismantle Germany’s democratic order. Their targets included residences for asylum-seekers and locations associated with left-wing politics.

One of the most serious incidents attributed to the group occurred in October 2024, when two suspects allegedly set fire to a cultural centre in Altdöbern, eastern Germany. At the time, several people were inside the building and escaped unharmed only by chance, prosecutors said.

In January 2025, two other suspects allegedly attempted to set fire to an asylum-seekers’ residence in Schmölln by breaking a window and igniting fireworks. The fire failed to ignite, but investigators say the suspects left graffiti at the scene, including the group’s initials and far-right slogans such as “Foreigners out,” “Germany for the Germans,” “Nazi area,” and swastikas.

Also in January, three suspects reportedly plotted another arson attack on a refugee shelter in Senftenberg. That attack was never carried out due to the prior arrests of two of the conspirators.

German Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig expressed deep concern over the young ages of the suspects, calling it “particularly shocking” that all those arrested on May 21 were minors at the time the group was allegedly formed.

“This is an alarm signal and it shows that right-wing extremist terrorism knows no age,” Hubig said in a statement.

The arrests come shortly after German authorities banned another far-right organisation, “Kingdom of Germany,” for posing a threat to the constitutional order. Four of its alleged leaders were detained last week.

The growing threat of politically motivated violence was underscored by a new report released Tuesday by the Federal Criminal Police Office, which found that right-wing violent crimes rose by 17.2% in 2024, reaching 1,488 cases. Overall, politically motivated violent offences increased by 15.3% to 4,107 cases.

By Tamilla Hasanova