Islamic extremists convicted of membership in German IS cell

BERLIN (AP) — A court in Germany has convicted five men of membership in a local cell of the Islamic State group that received orders from a leading IS figure in Afghanistan. The Duesseldorf regional court on Tuesday sentenced the Tajik nationals to lengthy prison terms. The longest sentence of nine years and six months was handed to a defendant who was also convicted of planning to kill a man who had made critical comments about Islam. The attack was foiled by authorities. The other men received prison sentences of between 44 months and 8.5 years.