2024-04-12T16:16:49+00:00
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/ On Friday, German police arrested two girls and two teenagers who planned to carry out a terrorist attack in the west of the country.
Public prosecutors in Dusseldorf said in a statement, reported by Agence France-Presse, that “three detainees in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia are strongly suspected of planning to launch a terrorist attack with Islamic motives.”
They added, “The three who were between 15 and 16 years old committed to carrying out the crime of murder and manslaughter.”
In a separate announcement, public prosecutors in Stuttgart confirmed that a 16-year-old female suspect was being held “on suspicion that she was preparing a serious crime that would endanger the state.”
Investigators did not provide additional details about the supposed plan, saying the investigation was still ongoing.
But Bild, the most widely circulated newspaper in Germany, reported that the authorities suspected that the teenagers were planning to carry out attacks with Molotov cocktails and knives in the name of ISIS.
It is believed that they were going to target Christians and police officers, according to the report, which stated that the suspects also considered possessing firearms.
Germany remains on alert for fear of Islamic attacks since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, while the head of the country’s domestic intelligence service warned that the risk of such attacks is “real and higher than it has been for a long time.”