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During the investigation against extremist right-wing soldiers in the Bundeswehr Special Forces Command (KSK), investigators found a veritable arsenal of an active KSK soldier. Rescue teams from the Saxon State Criminal Police Office Rex Special Commission, the Leipzig Police Directorate and the Saxon Riot Police lifted him from the soldier on Wednesday morning.
During the raid in the northern district of Saxony, investigators found, among other things, an AK-47 assault rifle, several batches of ammunition and a large amount of plastic explosives, according to SPIEGEL information. The search for the property continued until the afternoon. According to a report by the military department to the Bundestag, the soldier was arrested and then questioned by authorities about the discovery of weapons.
In early 2020, the MAD military secret service had already alerted civilian investigators in Saxony to the command’s 45-year-old sergeant major, and had indicated that it may have established a gun shop in his department. The MAD had been attacking the commando soldier since April 2017 due to his extreme right-wing attitude, was observing him, and thus received information about the arms store.
In parallel with the LKA investigations, the Bundeswehr initiated disciplinary proceedings against the command soldier. Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said during a speech in the Bundestag that she was informed of the search on Wednesday morning. The raid described it as a great success. “No one who stands out radically in our armed forces has a place in the Bundeswehr,” he said, “we follow each case with rigor and consistency.”
The minister announced strict procedure in the case of the field sergeant. “He will no longer wear a uniform and will no longer enter Bundeswehr property,” he said in the Bundestag. The Minister again spoke of the possibility that a far-right network has formed in the largely isolated unit.
20 KSK soldiers classified as suspected cases
The opposition warned that the minister should not stop at such announcements. “Unfortunately, the fear that right-wing extremists will serve in the KSK is anything but a fantasy,” said green defense expert Tobias Lindner. The discovery of weapons clearly shows that this danger is real. “Ms. Kramp-Karrenbauer should now clarify how large a possible network is in the group,” Lindner said.
The MAD currently classifies around 20 commands as so-called suspicious cases. Several soldiers have been suspended from service in the past 18 months due to suspicions against them. In a small unit like the KSK, which only has 1,000 men, the number of suspected cases is only very high. Soldiers are drilled like no other unit in the handling of weapons of war, but also in close combat.
The MAD chief appeared on Wednesday in the Bundestag Defense Committee. Christof Gramm wanted to present the first annual report of the secret service. He was unable to say anything about the searches, as officials had just started their foray. However, Gramm emphasized once again that the elite KSK unit remained a “working focus” of the Secret Service.
Staff Sergeant said to be close to “Identity Movement”
Parallel to the case in Saxony, the secret service exposed another command soldier, who is no longer deployed to the KSK, as a right-wing extremist. According to SPIEGEL’s information, he is a staff sergeant who is currently deployed to the United States in a liaison office with the US military. According to MAD investigations, it is close to the “Identity Movement”, which the Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies as an element of observation.
According to MAD’s findings, the soldier in question is said to have donated money to the “Identity Movement.” Due to proximity to the far-right group, which recruited supporters especially from youth, a command had been suspended last year. The now unmasked sergeant should return to Germany from the United States as soon as possible. A disciplinary procedure awaits you here. The Bundeswehr is determined to remove it from its own ranks.
