A Tunisian asylum-seeker arrested in Germany on suspicion of planning an attack, is also wanted by Tunisia over links to an assault on the Bardo museum in Tunis.

The arrest was part of a major counter-terror operation. More than 1,000 police raided 54 homes, businesses and mosques in Frankfurt and other towns in the western state of Hesse, searching for 16 suspects, including the man arrested.

“The main suspect is a 36-year-old Tunisian citizen who is suspected to have worked, since August 2015, for the foreign terrorist organisation calling itself the Islamic State. The suspect is alleged to have worked as a smuggler and recruiter for this organisation here in Germany,” Alexander Badle, spokesman for the Frankfurt prosecutor’s office told reporters.

Tunisia issued a warrant for his arrest in June 2016, but, according to prosecutors, he escaped extradition from Germany after Tunisian authorities failed to provide documents required for his deportation.

Tunisian authorities said they did no know the identity of the person arrested in Germany, adding that there were several people wanted over the Bardo attack.

ISIL claimed responsibility for the deadly assault on the Bardo museum in March 2015. Twenty-two people, mostly European tourists, were killed in the attack.