Hans-Georg Maassen, the head of the office, which is also known as the BfV, was quoted by the Welt am Sonntag paper on Sunday that ISIS terrorists, which are mainly active in Syria and Iraq, are planning to carry out raids against Germany and its interests.
Maassen, however, said that he knew of no concrete plot to strike, adding, "At the moment, we don't have any knowledge of any concrete terrorist attack plans in Germany."
On April 5, ISIS released a video claiming that it may launch more attacks in European countries in the wake of the Brussels bombings of March and the Paris attacks of November 2015. The group named London, Berlin and Rome as possible targets.
The BfV chief said the propaganda video was aimed at persuading ISIS sympathizers to carry out attacks in Germany.
Maassen said there were several cases linking German militants returning from Syria to attack plans in their home country.
Germany has avoided a huge terror raid so far due to the successful work of its security agencies, Maassen said, adding that on one or two other occasions bomb detonators did not work properly.
In 2012, a man left a bag containing a home-made pipe bomb at the main railway station in the former German capital of Bonn. The bomb did not explode because of poor construction. In another failed attack, two suitcase bombs left by militants on trains in Cologne did not go off in 2006.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Maassen said the BfV was aware of some 300 attempts by Salafists and other militants to recruit asylum seekers who have arrived in Germany in recent years.
"I'm particularly concerned about the many unaccompanied minors — this group is being deliberately targeted," he said, adding that he saw a "huge radicalization potential" in the militants’ attempts to recruit the refugees.
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