Terror attack planned? 20-year-old in custody
A 20-year-old man has been arrested in Lower Saxony on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack during the Christmas period. "He has announced that he apparently wants to carry out attacks in connection with major events during the Christmas period, and that is why we have taken him into preventive custody," said Lower Saxony's Interior Minister Daniela Behrens (SPD) on NDR Lower Saxony.
Following joint research with WDR, NDR reported that the suspect from Saxony-Anhalt had been arrested in Helmstedt on November 21. He was from Iraq, said the Interior Minister. "The 20-year-old is still in police custody on the basis of security measures. The State Criminal Police Office of Lower Saxony is not providing any further background information at present for tactical investigative reasons," NDR quoted an LKA spokesperson as saying.
Further arrests
With regard to the security situation at Christmas markets, Interior Minister Behrens said that the police there were "very clear and robust" - partly because of the armed conflict in the Middle East. And: "We still have Islamists (...) who are no longer so much in the public eye, but who have also announced attacks in the West (...)."
Two young people were recently arrested in North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg for sympathizing with the terrorist organization Islamic State and allegedly planning a Christmas market attack. They are in custody. Ultimately, they are said to have agreed to "kill visitors to a Christmas market in Leverkusen at the beginning of December by means of a fuel-induced explosion of a small truck", according to the public prosecutor's office in Düsseldorf.
In light of the ongoing threat, police forces are particularly vigilant during the Christmas period, with Interior Minister Behrens noting that they are "very clear and robust" at Christmas markets due to the armed conflict in the Middle East. Furthermore, following a series of investigations, two individuals were arrested in North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg for showing support for Islamic State and allegedly planning a terror attack on a Christmas market.
Source: www.dpa.com
