Three suspected Islamic State members arrested in Turkey were planning attacks on Germany's diplomatic missions or schools in the country, which were closed last week over a terror threat, Turkish media reported today.


The three men -- a Turk, an Iraqi and a Syrian -- were arrested in Istanbul yesterday by police acting on information from both Turkey's and Germany's intelligence services, Hurriyet newspaper and the broadcaster CNN-Turk reported.


The suspects, presented as members of an IS cell, are accused of plotting attacks on German interests in Turkey, the reports said. Last Thursday, Germany closed its embassy in Ankara, its consulate in Istanbul and German schools in both cities, with Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier citing "very serious" indications of planned attacks. Turkish authorities had criticised the closures, saying they were unjustified. Two days later, a Turkish alleged IS member blew himself up on a busy shopping street in Istanbul, killing three Israelis and an Iranian and injuring dozens.