Several apartments were also searched in the north of Berlin. The attack was “concretely planned” but there is no known connection between Yamen A. and an international terror group. The suspect was “in the process” of preparing the attack, the prosecutor’s office said. He had been searching social media for directions on how to build bombs and communicating with people known to be on the “jihadist spectrum.” German authorities knew that the suspect had ordered bomb-making chemicals online. They said that during the raid today, authorities also found a high explosive.
Police at the scene of arrest
“Today, German security services successfully averted a major terrorist attack in Germany,” German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said. “The operation took place at exactly the right moment. Late enough to secure the necessary proof and early enough to securely prevent any danger.” The suspect had been planning since at least July to “detonate a bomb in a crowd in Germany” with the goal of “killing and injuring as many as possible,” public prosecutor Frauke Koehler said. The terror threat remains “unchanged at a high level,” according to Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere.
