Tunisian arrested in Germany linked to 2015 Tunis Museum attack

A Tunisian asylum-seeker arrested in Germany on Wednesday on suspicion of planning an attack was also wanted by Tunisia for his suspected involvement in the deadly militant assault against the Bardo Museum in Tunis, German authorities said.

The 36-year-old is suspected of recruiting for Islamic State in Germany since August 2015 and building up a network of supporters with the aim of carrying out a terrorist attack, the Frankfurt prosecutor's office said in statement.

They also suspect him of involvement in a bloody jihadist assault on the border town of Ben Guerdane last March, it added.

Tunisia issued a warrant for his arrest in June 2016 but he escaped extradition from Germany late last year because Tunisian authorities failed to provide the required documentation for his deportation, according to the prosecutors.

The arrest was part of a major operation in which more than 1,100 German police raided 54 premises including homes, businesses and mosques in Frankfurt and other towns in the western state of Hesse. 15 others were also arrested.

The man had lived in Germany between 2003 and 2013 and then re-entered the country as an asylum seeker in August 2015, five months after militant gunmen stormed the Bardo Museum in Tunis and killed 21 foreign tourists.

The man’s identity has not yet been verified.

"At the moment we don't know the identity of this person, there are several suspects in the Bardo and Ben Guerdane cases currently on the run," Tunisian prosecution spokesman Sofiene Sliti told AFP.