German Intelligence Agent Arrested on Suspicion of Links With Daesh Extremists

An agent employed by German intelligence service was arrested on suspicion of leaking sensitive information to Daesh extremists, media reported Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A man employed with the task to analyze the Islamist activity in Germany was arrested for making Islamist statements on the Internet under a false name and disclosing sensitive materials concerning the internal agency's activities, The Guardian newspaper reported.

"The Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) has managed to expose a suspected Islamist among its associates," the agency said in a statement, as quoted by the newspaper.

The 51-year-old agent, a former bank employee, who started working for the agency in April 2016, said that he wanted to intrude into the BfV for obtaining information to plot a terrorist attack in the agency's headquarter in Cologne, according to the newspaper.

The BfV spokesperson said, however, that "there is no evidence so far that there is a concrete threat," as quoted by The Guardian.

In September, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere warned that over 500 potential Islamist attackers were estimated to live in Germany, and cautioned about the threat coming from small strike groups and lone-wolf terrorists.