Dutch police have appealed to the public for help in finding three German nationals who are former members of the Red Army Faction but may have carried out a string of recent robberies.

Ernst-Volker Staub, 61, Burkhard Garweg, 47, and 57-year-old Daniela Klette were part of the RAF which went on a campaign of bombings, kidnappings and killings in the 1970s and 1980s.

The three are now thought to have carried out at least six supermarket heists and to have robbed two money transport lorries between 2011 and 2016.

There is reason to think they may be in the Netherlands because the crimes were committed on the Dutch-German border, they have not been arrested in Germany, a mobile phone belonging to one of the fugitives was switched off in the Netherlands and they are known to have been in the Netherlands in the past, the police said in a statement.

The three are considered to be dangerous and the public are being warned not to approach them if they are spotted.

According to news agency AFP, Staub, Garweg and Klette are alleged members of the RAF’s third generation active during the 80s and 90 and are chief suspects in a 1993 explosives attack against a prison under construction in Hesse state.