German police have detained 12 members of a far-right group alleged to have plotted attacks on mosques and asylum-seekers, with another suspect still at large.
The alleged members of the group Der Harte Kern, or The Hard Core, reportedly met up through the messaging service WhatsApp, forming the organization in September, the BBC reports. They are believed to have links to the Finnish far-right group Soldiers of Odin.
The alleged leader of the group allegedly met last week with other members to discuss a plot to launch 10 separate attacks throughout Germany, including assaults on mosques similar to those last year in New Zealand that killed 51 worshipers.
An informant who had infiltrated the group allegedly tipped off investigators about the plot, with authorities discovering firearms and bomb-making materials in subsequent raids, the BBC reported. The men have been ordered detained while the investigation is ongoing.
Four of the men, all German nationals, were arrested Friday on suspicion of forming the group, while the other eight are accused of providing weapons and financial support, according to the BBC.
German authorities are prioritizing the threat of far-right terror in light of an attack on a synagogue in Halle last year as well as the murder of local politician Walter Lübcke, an advocate for acceptance of refugees, by a neo-Nazi in what authorities have called a political assassination.