Four men were arrested in Germany on Wednesday on suspicion of planning terror attacks on behalf of the Islamic State group.

The arrested men, all nationals of Tajikistan, are suspected of planning assassinations and attacks against US military bases in Germany, prosecutors said.

They had allegedly scouted out possible targets and obtained firearms and live ammunition, as well as components to manufacture home-made explosives.

“They were in contact with two high-ranking Islamic State (IS) leaders in Syria and Afghanistan, from whom they received instructions,” prosecutors alleged in a statement.

The four men were held at their homes in a series of police raids in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia in the early hours of Wednesday morning. They have been named only as Azizjon B, Muhammadali G, Farhodshoh K and Sunatullokh K under German privacy laws.

They are suspected of forming a terror cell together with Ravsan B, a fifth Tajik national who has been in custody on other charges since March last year.

The cell is believed to have scouted US air bases in Germany as possible targets for attack and planned to assassinate individuals.