Thomas de Maiziere said the information could help with prosecutions of IS fighters, and help prevent future recruitment to the militant group.

Files obtained by German, UK and Syrian opposition media are said to identify IS recruits from at least 40 countries.

Sky News said the files contained 22,000 names, addresses, telephone numbers and family contacts of jihadists.

It said the documents came from a man called Abu Hamed, an IS fighter who said he had become disillusioned with the group's leadership and stolen a memory stick from the head of the IS internal security force before handing it over in Turkey.

(Extracts from BBC)