World Bulletin/News Desk

The German cabinet agreed to amend a law which would permit the seizure of the ID cards of those who leave Germany to join militant groups, namely in Iraq and in Syria, said the government spokesman Steffen Seibert on Wednesday.

Germany authorities can seize the passport of citizens in exceptional situations, under the newly amended law.

Seibert told a press conference in the federal press house in Berlin that the German authorities would be able to seize the ID cards of suspected individuals for up to three years. 

In Germany, ID cards are issued at the age of 16 and are used daily, for instance in the purchase of a cellphone.

The new law amendment aims at preventing the participation of German citizens in organizations such as the ISIL in Iraq and in Syria. 

German security authorities stated that 500 extremists had traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight with radical groups. 

About 40 percent of the people who traveled to Syria and Iraq from Germany did not have German citizenship, according to the statements of Germany security authorities. 

German media have indicated that at least 20 people had traveled to war areas in Iraq and in Syria without a passport as it had been previously suspended by German authorities.