Youths allegedly planned attack in Germany
Published: Friday, May 3rd 2024, 12:11
العودة إلى البث المباشر
Four young people arrested in Germany at Easter are said to have gathered information on the internet about an Islamist attack involving bombs. However, they are said to have then concentrated more on an attack with incendiary devices and knives. There are also links between the case and those arrested in Switzerland.
According to a confidential report submitted by the Ministry of the Interior in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia to the state parliament, the analysis of the cell phones of minors from the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg also revealed instructions on how to make explosives that had been downloaded from a forum. This was stated by a spokesperson for the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of the Interior on Friday in response to an inquiry in Düsseldorf.
However, no evidence of serious preparations for a bomb attack - such as components - was found. According to earlier statements by North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Herbert Reul, the detainees are a 15-year-old from Düsseldorf, a 15-year-old from Lippstadt, a 16-year-old from Iserlohn and a 16-year-old from Ostfildern in Baden-Württemberg.
According to terrorism investigators, they are said to have agreed to murder and manslaughter "in unity with the preparation of a serious act of violence endangering the state". According to security circles, there was no concrete attack plan with a time and place. The young people are still in custody.
Connections to Schaffhausen cell
According to the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG), there is a link between the investigations in Germany and similar investigations in Switzerland. A 15-year-old Swiss and a 16-year-old Italian from the canton of Schaffhausen and an 18-year-old Swiss from the canton of Thurgau were also arrested over the Easter weekend on suspicion of supporting terrorist organizations.
The OAG and the Schaffhausen public prosecutor's office are investigating planned explosives attacks. In the meantime, the two minors have been admitted to a closed institution and the 18-year-old is still in custody.
Various chats with suspects
According to Reul's report to the state parliament, the German domestic intelligence service initially came across the 16-year-old from Iserlohn because she had allegedly viewed propaganda material from the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia and wanted to travel to Syria.
During a raid on Maundy Thursday, the youth's cell phone and a knife were seized, as well as a machete from her brother's room. Chats with the other suspected teenagers were found on the cell phone.
In their chats, the young people discussed a possible attack in Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Iserlohn or Stuttgart, which was planned for the end of May. The 16-year-old had announced in the chats that she would also bring her brother's machete to the attack.
©كيستون/إسدا
Arabic 
English 
German 
French 
Spanish