German police have carried out raids in several regions and arrested three people as part of an investigation into four Algerian men suspected of planning attacks in Germany and having ties to the Islamic State group.

Berlin police said in a statement that two men and a woman were held in swoops in the capital and two western states, but that those arrests were based on existing warrants in other cases.

Authorities suspect that the four men under investigation had contacts with IS and say that one of them was being sought by Algerian authorities for belonging to the extremist group. They seized computers, mobile phones and other material.

Berlin police spokesman Stefan Redlich told n-tv television that the probe started in December.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.