2023-12-31 20:57:52
The German police announced this Sunday the arrest of three “Islamists” suspected of wanting to commit an attack on New Year’s Eve at the Cologne Cathedral, in western Germany.
The three detainees are part of “an Islamist group,” said Herbert Reul, interior councilor in the North Rhine-Westphalia region, in which Cologne is located, during a press conference.
Reul specified that they had reinforced security measures around the monumental Gothic cathedral, with some 1,000 agents deployed.
The head of the police in Cologne, Johannes Hermann, said they suspect that the three detainees have links to a man from Tajikistan, whom German security forces had detained on Christmas Eve.
According to the newspaper Bild, these four “Islamists” are of Tajik nationality and wanted to commit attacks on behalf of the branch of the Islamic State in Afghanistan.
“Islamist groups” are “now more active than at any other time,” warned the Interior Councilor of North Rhine-Westphalia.
However, Reul assured that they are maintaining the celebrations planned for the New Year in Cologne.
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