Authorities in northern Germany have banned an organization that they say was a "hot spot" for Islamic extremists and searched a mosque that the group runs.

The state interior ministry in Lower Saxony on Tuesday announced a ban on the "German-speaking Islam Group Hildesheim," known by its German acronym DIK.

The group, based in the city of Hildesheim, was long known as a center for ultraconservative Muslims known as Salafists, and the mosque had been raided last year. Apartments also were searched Tuesday.

News agency dpa quoted Interior Minister Boris Pistorius as saying: "With the ban on the group, a hot spot of the radical Salafist scene in Germany has been dismantled."

Authorities suspect that Muslims were radicalized in the organization and motivated to take part in jihad.