The German government is planning to electronically tag jihadis amid outrage over revelations another suspected Isis supporter was set free by authorities.

More than a thousand police officers raided homes, mosques and businesses in the state of Hesse, but the huge operation resulted in the arrest of only 16 suspects, including a man who had been on security services’ radar for years.

The 36-year-old Tunisian, Haikel S, is a suspected Isis recruiter and smuggler linked to at least two terror attacks in his home country, as well as leading a German extremist network planning an attack.

German police officers stand guard in front of a mosque during a terror raid in Frankfurt on 1 February (AP)

Police hailed his arrest on Wednesday but there was a swift backlash over revelations that like the Berlin Christmas market attacker, he was known to authorities and an attempt to deport him had failed, forcing him to be released from detention.

Germany’s cabinet has addressed proposals to better keep track of potential extremists, approving a law allowing the “fundamental modernisation of police IT systems” to improve information sharing.

The measures include the use of ankle bracelets to monitor anyone deemed to be a security threat who has been put under restrictions by the Federal Criminal Police Office.

Thomas de Maizière, the interior minister, said the electronic tags would help “control their compliance”.

“Ankle bracelets are an important instrument to facilitate the surveillance of dangerous people,” he added.

German security services have a list of more than 550 Islamists considered “threats to public security” who have lived or currently reside in Germany.

Angela Merkel reacts to shooting of Berlin market attack suspect

Johannes Dimroth, a spokesperson for the interior ministry, declined to speculate how many suspects might now face electronic monitoring.

“How many of them could in the future be affected by such a measure is a purely hypothetical question,” he told reporters in Berlin.

The proposal still has to be approved by the German parliament, where there could be resistance from MPs opposing the tracking of people who have not been convicted of a crime.

Germany’s government is following up on promises of reform following a litany of security failures exposed in the wake of the Berlin Christmas market attack.

Anis Amri, a failed Tunisian asylum seeker, killed 12 people months after a delay receiving paperwork from his home government ended Germany’s attempt to deport him.

He had been put under surveillance over a separate alleged terror plot but monitoring was stopped in September after officials uncovered drug dealing and minor crime but failed to reveal evidence of extremism.

Amri managed to flee through European countries including the Netherlands, Belgium and France amid an international manhunt following his attack, before being shot dead when he opened fire on police in Italy.

Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Show all 18 1 /18 Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Several people have been killed after a lorry drove into crowds at a Christmas market in Berlin REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch Berlin Christmas market lorry attack 'At least nine' people have been killed and more than 50 injured. AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Emergency Services rush a Berlin market victim to an ambulance Associated Press Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Police cordoned off the square at Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church following the incident REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Rescue workers inspect the lorry that crashed into a Christmas market close to the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church in Berlin EPA Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Emergency crews inspect the lorry that ploughed into a Berlin Christmas market, killing at least nine people AFP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Fire crews attend the scene of the attack AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Armed police secure the site of a lorry attack at a Christmas market in Berlin REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Crushed debris is visible beneath the wheels of the vehicle REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack An injured man is pushed to an ambulance REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Medics attend an injured person after the lorry attack which killed at least nine and injured more than 50 people AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters examine the lorry which was rammed into a Berlin Christmas market REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack A person is carried into an ambulance REUTERS Berlin Christmas market lorry attack View of the lorry that crashed into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing at least nine and injuring at least 50 people AFP/Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Rescue workers push a person on a stretcher to an ambulance Getty Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters assess the damage after the lorry rammed the Christmas market, killing 'at least nine', and injuring more than 50 people AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Firefighters stand beside a toppled Christmas tree at the site of the suspected terrorist attack in a Berlin Christmas market AP Berlin Christmas market lorry attack Damaged stalls at the scene of the incident at a Berlin Christmas market where at least nine people have been killed EPA

Investigations continue into his possible associates in Germany, with three terror suspects accused of planning to join Isis in Syria or Iraq arrested at his former mosque in Berlin on Tuesday.

Amri’s attack sparked a 10-point plan by the government to tackle terror, including the tightening of residence requirements for migrants who give false identities, fast-tracked deportations and the detention of rejected asylum seekers who are deemed a threat.

Other measures include increased surveillance, the recording of air traffic data to track movement within the EU and improved information sharing.

They come after a string of Isis-inspired terror attacks in Germany that started with a teenage girl’s stabbing of a police officer at Hanover railway station in February last year.

It was followed by the Würzburg train attack, a suicide bombing in Ansbach and the Berlin Christmas market attack, which were all claimed by Isis.

Anti-immigration groups have seized on the atrocities to criticise Angela Merkel’s decision to open Germany’s border to Syrian refugees during the height of the refugee crisis in 2015.