Suspected IS scout for Berlin attack sites goes on trial

An alleged Islamic State jihadist accused of scoping out potential targets for an attack in Berlin, including the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag building, went on trial in Germany on Wednesday.

It was the country’s first trial of a suspected IS militant deployed to Germany from Syria during the chaotic 2015 refugee influx -- in contrast to “lone wolf” attacks or plots by extremists who were radicalised elsewhere. 

The defendant, identified only as 19-year-old Syrian national Shaas al-Mohammad, allegedly fought with the Islamist militia in his war-torn homeland for two years before arriving in Germany as a refugee in August 2015.  Dressed in a blue pullover and a black cap, Mohammad hid his face behind a folder as he took his seat in the courtroom. Two police trucks were parked outside the entrance, with officers armed with machine guns guarding the proceedings. 

Mohammad was standing trial at a special state security court in Berlin on charges of membership of a foreign terrorist organisation, which carries up to 10 years in jail, and military weapons law violations.

The trial comes just over two weeks after an IS extremist from Tunisia allegedly ploughed a truck through a Berlin Christmas market in an attack that killed 12 people.

Prosecutors claim the defendant joined the jihadist group as a teenager in mid-2013, taking part in combat operations, handling an AK-47 assault rifle and supplying food to fighters. 

He arrived in Germany near the peak of a mass influx of people fleeing Syria, Iraq and other crisis-torn countries that brought almost 900,000 asylum seekers to Europe’s biggest economy in 2015.