A 30-year manhunt ended in the heart of Berlin when police special forces arrested former Red Army Faction guerrilla fighter Daniela Klette. She is one of the famous RAF trio, three ex-militants still on the run and among the most wanted in Germany. This trio emerged from the leadership of the third and final generation of the urban guerrilla group.
The arrest of Klette in Berlin marked the end of her successful evasion of authorities for over 30 years. Klette, now 66 years old, was found in an apartment where ammunition was allegedly discovered. Her identity, allegedly, was confirmed through her fingerprints.
Alongside Ernst-Volker Staub and Burkhard Garweg, they have managed to elude capture for decades. The arrest in Berlin could tighten the circle around her comrades.
The arrest followed a recently launched public manhunt, also screened across Germany on billboards. Additionally, police forces raided relatives’ homes associated with the RAF trio in early 2023 in search of clues about the wanted revolutionaries.
Klette had been involved in left-wing revolutionary groups since 1975. She primarily engaged in Germany’s anti-NATO movement before affiliating herself with the RAF’s supporters network and eventually joining the group.
The RAF carried out attacks agaist imperialist, capitalist and state targets. The revolutionary organization was founded in 1970 and disbaned in 1998. They were particularly active during the 70s and 80s.
In the 1980′, the trio allegedly partly formed the command level of the third generation of the RAF. The third generation coordinated with other European guerrilla struggles like the Italian Red Brigades, and concentrated attacks against US and NATO targets, like the 1981 bombing of the US Air Force headquarters in Ramstein.
The bourgeois state alleges that Klette was involved in the very last RAF action which was a huge explosion targeting Weiterstadt prison in 1993. The attack is considered to be the most technically perfected attack in incomparable in terms of damage to other RAF actions.