Three Syrian men have been arrested in Germany in connection with an alleged terror plot “commissioned” by ISIS. A fourth suspect has been held in French custody since February.
The federal prosecutor’s office says this alleged attack would include suicide bombings with citizens attacked with gunfire and explosives in Düsseldorf. It’s a scenario that is painfully familiar to Europe of late, with terror attacks in Paris and Brussels still vivid in the public’s mind. The nationality of the suspects (complete with reports that at least one entered the country as a refugee) also touches a raw nerve as debate over the arrival of Syrian refugees continues to be tense at home and abroad.
CNN reports that all three German suspects were apprehended separately with the suspect in French custody the subject of an extradition request from Germany. The alleged terrorists have been identified by the authorities as Hamza C., Mahood B. Abd Arahman A. K. and Saleh A., with ages ranging from 25 to 31. It was the information Saleh A. provided to French authorities that sparked the arrest. Three of the men arrested are believed by Attorney General Peter Frank to be members of ISIS with Mahood B. being considered to simply be an ISIS supporter.
According to prosecutors, Saleh A. and Hamza C. were commissioned by ISIS to carry out an attack in Düsseldorf back in 2014 with the aim to kill as many people as possible in the city’s Altstadt district. Those plans were halted when Saleh A. was nabbed by authorities. It’s been stressed that the alleged terror mission has no connection to the Euro 2016 tournament taking place in neighboring France.
(via CNN, Wall Street Journal, The Independent and BBC)