A German intelligence officer has been arrested for planning an attack on the agency’s headquarters.

The 51-year-old man is a convert to Islam who was hired by the German domestic intelligence agency (BfV) in April to monitor the growing presence of Salafism in the country. He was allegedly plotting an attack against BfV’s headquarters in Cologne, according Der Spiegel.

The suspect’s family didn’t know he converted to Islam in 2014 or that he spent a lot of time on extremist websites. He used his access to intelligence information to warn extremists of raids.

“He is accused of making Islamist remarks online under a false name, and offering internal information during chats,” a BfV spokesman said.

Online chats further reveal how the man tried to recruit more radicals to the agency to carry out an attack “in the name of Allah” on the agency’s “non-believers.”

German military intelligence recently exposed 20 Islamists in its own ranks, while 60 others were under investigation.(RELATED: Germany Exposes 20 Jihadists In Its Military)

The military counterespionage services previously reported 64 suspected Islamists, 268 suspected right-wing extremists and six left-wing extremists were under investigation.

The German government will impose increased security checks on everyone applying to join the military starting next June.

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