Police anti-terror raids carried out in three Swiss regions

A large-scale operation across three Swiss regions on Tuesday morning has led to the house searches of 11 people with suspected links to Islamist terrorist groups.

The police raids were launched in the cantons of Zurich, Bern, and Schaffhausen, and involved some 100 officers, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) announced on Tuesday.

The 11 people targeted by the house searches are suspected of breaching the law against participation in a criminal group – in this case, the Al-Qaeda and Islamic State organisations.

Six of the individuals investigated are adults, including one returning jihadist fighter who has already been tried on suspicion of links to Islamic State, the OAG said. Along with another individual, he is being held until a court decides whether to place him in pre-trial detention. The other five are youths.

The raids were coordinated by the OAG, the cantonal police authorities of Bern, Zurich, and Schaffhausen, and the Offices of the Juvenile Prosecutor from Bern and Winterthur.

The operation comes less than a week after the OAG filed an indictment with the Federal Criminal Court against two men accused of supporting and participating in Islamic State, including one Swiss-Italian citizen accused of recruiting for the terror group.