German police today arrested two Algerian men reportedly linked to the Islamic State terror group during raids in Berlin, Hanover and Attendorn in the North Rhine-Westphalia state. The suspects are said to have “lived in refugee shelters”.

#BREAKING Suspects in IS plot 'lived in refugee shelters': German police — AFP news agency (@AFP) February 4, 2016

The main suspect, reported to be a 35-year-old Algerian, was arrested in Attendorn, and a second Algerian was arrested in Berlin where 450 police were involved with searches on four homes and two businesses.

Police are said to be searching for a further two men — a 31-year-old man in Berlin and a 26-year-old in Hanover — following a tip off by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency that the group was planning a “serious act threatening the security of the state”. One of the group is reported to have links with the Islamist scene in Belgium, and has in recent weeks visited the troubled Brussels’ district of Molenbeek at least once, an area linked to a number of the terrorists behind last November’s Paris attacks.

One of those arrested is reported to have been resident in a refugee processing centre in Attendorn. He is wanted by Algerian authorities for membership of Islamic State. The raid in Hanover was also targeted on refugee housing.