In Hamburg, the police are apparently preventing an Islamist attack. A 20-year-old is said to have planned to build a bomb.
Hamburg – The police arrested a 20-year-old who was probably planning a terrorist attack. As the security authorities of the city of Hamburg announced, the alleged perpetrator is said to have had Islamist motives. “We are dealing with a very, very serious process here,” said the Hamburg Senator for the Interior, Andy Grote, commenting on the events at a press conference on Friday (December 10th, 2021). The arrest was followed by searches of the accused’s home throughout Germany.
The arrest itself took place on August 26th. According to the Hamburg police, the 20-year-old tried to buy a pistol with 50 rounds and a hand grenade on the Darknet. He had come across undercover agents who arrested the suspect at the handover location in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant. Further investigations uncovered what was behind the failed deal.
Attack in Hamburg prevented: suspect showed interest in jihad
During the search of an apartment of the arrested person in Hamburg, chemicals for the construction of an explosive device were found. According to the police, an attack with such a bomb could have caused “significant or even fatal injuries”. In addition, the 20-year-old’s data carriers had been seized, which showed a keen interest in weapons, explosives, poisons as well as attack planning, jihad and the death of a martyr.
Those responsible in Hamburg establish further connections to extremist Islam through the family of the 20-year-old. Accordingly, the father of the alleged attack planner was jointly responsible for the closed al-Quds mosque in Hamburg. The mosque served as a gathering point for terrorists involved in the 9/11 attacks.
After the attack in Hamburg was prevented: the police carried out searches across Germany
The accused is now in custody. He is accused of attempting to prepare for a serious act of violence that is dangerous to the state and of attempting to acquire a weapon of war. The 20-year-old has so far not commented on the allegations. It is also unclear where he wanted to carry out the possible attack. On Wednesday (December 8th, 2021) a total of 130 investigators searched 16 apartments of contact persons of the arrested person in several federal states, whereby cell phones, tablets, notebooks and storage media were seized. The evaluation is still running.
Elsewhere, the authorities did not intervene in time: After the attack in Hanau, the country and the police are accused of failure. (vbu / dpa)
