Police have foiled a plot to launch a terror attack on European soil after they arrested six suspected Islamists and seized two dozen suicide belts in raids in both Turkey and Germany.

Officers in central Germany detained two known Islamic extremists as part of an investigation into a possible terror attack plot.

Meanwhile, in Turkey, police today seized 24 suicide belts and detained four suspected Islamic State members, the Turkish state news agency said.

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Officers in Göttingen, central Germany detained two known Islamic extremists as part of an investigation into a possible terror attack plot

Police display seized weapons and an IS flag at a press conference following the raids

Police in Germany said the men - a 27-year-old Algerian and a 23-year-old Nigerian, whose names have not been released - were detained dawn raids this morning in and around Goettingen in central Germany.

Police said both men live in the city and have long been part of the Salafist scene there. Salafists are ultra-conservative Islamists.

About 450 police officers searched twelve properties as part of the operation, including eleven buildings in the city of Göttingen and a house in Nordhessen.

Goettingen police chief Uwe Luehrig said officers took swift action after information about a possible attack plan came to light.

'We had, in my assessment, absolutely no other option,' Lührig said

The operation came after German police arrested three men in Berlin on suspicion of having close links to ISIS militants and planning to travel to the Middle East for combat training

Seized items, including a machete, are displayed during the news conference in Goettingen

Lower Saxony's Interior Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) described the raids as a 'very important blow to the scene', Zeit reports.

The minister praised the 'successful action'. It shows once again the determination of the security authorities in the fight against Islamic terrorism in Lower Saxony. One was 'well prepared and well prepared'. Nevertheless, the 'struggle against this dynamic movement' will continue to demand a lot from the authorities.

Last week, Pistorius told the Lower Saxony parliament that the fight against Islamic terrorism was a top priority for the state government and the Lower Saxony security authorities.

'Thanks to the rigorous investigation carried out by all the parties involved, it was possible to quickly and consistently intervene and prevent a specific danger,' he said.

Head of the Goettingen police, Uwe Luehrig, said police had 'absolutely no other option' but to carry out the raids

A glass door of Frankfurt's Bilal mosque is smashed following early morning raids in the federal state of Hesse earlier this month

'I would like to express my sincere thanks to all those who have prepared this mission and have been directly involved in the project. '

The latest detentions in Turkey came as CIA chief Mike Pompeo arrived in the country to discuss the fight against the extremist group in Syria and Iraq, making his first overseas trip since taking office.

Police found the suicide belts - made with 150 kilograms of explosives and fortified with metal pieces - as well as two automatic rifles, 31 pounds of TNT, mobile phones that could be used as detonators and other materials during an anti-terror operation in Gaziantep, near the border with Syria.

There were no details on the nationalities of the suspects, who were allegedly taking orders from high-level IS members in Syria. One suspect was wanted for membership in a terror organisation, according to the Gaziantep provincial governor's office.

This photo, provided by the Gaziantep Governor's Office, shows packs of explosives and other material seized from terror suspects

Police detained four Islamic State group suspects who were allegedly planning to carry out a 'sensational' attack in Turkey and seized 24 suicide attack belts

The suspects were being questioned by prosecutors on Thursday, an official at the governor's office said. He said the four led police investigators to a field and other locations where the explosives and other material were hidden.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations that bar civil servants from speaking to journalists without prior authorization.

Video of the operation provided by the governor's office showed a sniffer dog with a handler in a field and officials unearthing various explosives and other objects. In another shot, an official is seen removing an automatic weapon, wrapped in plastic, from what appeared to be a gap on the side of a building.

Last year, Turkey suffered a series of deadly attacks carried out by IS or Kurdish militants and has stepped up anti-terrorism operations across the country. Some 750 people with alleged IS links were detained in a major police sweep in 29 Turkish provinces last week.

German anti-terror police have arrested two suspected jihadists amid fears they were plotting an attack (file picture)

Less than a week ago, German anti-terror police arrested a suspected jihadist amid fears he was plotting an attack.

The Romanian man, 21, was held at Frankfurt airport in western Germany, before officers seized written notes and electronic storage devices from his home.

Karlsruhe police said in a statement that the man was arrested amid fears was planning to travel to his homeland to prepare an attack.

Just days before, police in the country arrested a Tunisian man suspected of planning a terror attack after 1,100 officers raided mosques and businesses across the country.

The 36-year-old was detained in Frankfurt in Germany's Hesse state after anti-terror units targeted 54 properties.

Germany remains on high alert after a series of jihadist attacks on its soil in the last 12 months.

In December an ISIS fanatic killed 12 when he drove a lorry through crowds of revellers enjoying a Christmas market in Berlin.

Months earlier, in July, a teenage Afghan refugee attacked passengers on a train in Wuerzburg with an axe and knife, wounding five before being shot dead.