Security circles: Terror suspect was an IS sympathizer
According to information from security circles, the suspected terrorist teenager from Brandenburg had sympathies for the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia. According to information from Thursday, the 16-year-old is said to have made concrete arrangements with a 15-year-old from North Rhine-Westphalia, who is also suspected of terrorism. The Neuruppin district court issued an arrest warrant for the 16-year-old on Wednesday evening on the urgent suspicion of planning and preparing a terrorist attack with the 15-year-old on the internet. The Leverkusen district court had issued an arrest warrant for the 15-year-old for planning and preparing an Islamist terrorist attack.
According to the public prosecutor's office in Düsseldorf, the suspects are said to have agreed to kill visitors to a Christmas market in Leverkusen by exploding a small truck at the beginning of December. Brandenburg's Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU) pointed out on Wednesday that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution had already become aware of both of them several weeks ago. According to him, the 16-year-old is a Russian citizen and was arrested in Wittstock/Dosse. He is currently in custody.
The alarming incident highlights the ongoing threat of extremism and terrorism, as both suspects had radicalized views and were planning criminal acts. The 16-year-old's sympathies for IS and the planned terror attack demonstrate the serious nature of this form of crime.
Source: www.dpa.com
