Two brothers planned suicide attack in Germany – arrest

Police in Germany arrested two Syrian brothers on suspicion of planning a suicide bombing with an Islamic background. They allegedly planned an attack on civilian targets with a homemade explosive belt.

The Hamburg court has issued an arrest warrant against the 28-year-old main suspect, who lives in northern Germany, according to the prosecutor’s office and the federal criminal investigation department. His 24-year-old brother is accused of complicity. According to information from the German press agency, he was arrested without resistance during a search of his apartment in Kempten, southern Germany.

Also in Hamburg, the apartment of the elderly man in the St. Georg district and three others were searched by contacts. Extensive evidence, including chemicals and mobile phones, was seized, it said. 250 police officers were involved in the operation. Special police units were also deployed in the search in Kempten, according to data from the dpa.

The 28-year-old has been buying raw materials for the production of explosive material for several weeks via the online platform Ebay and other providers. The prosecutor said his brother in Kempten encouraged him to plan the crime. The arrest warrant was issued on Tuesday, a spokeswoman said. The charge is terrorism financing. The charge of preparing a violent act endangering the state, which is common in similar investigations, has not yet been raised, as essential components for the belt’s explosive capability were still missing.

The spokeswoman said there was no indication of a specific target. However, the 28-year-old planned to blow himself up with the explosive belt and “take as many infidels as possible to their deaths”.

Hamburg’s domestic senator Andy Grote praised the cooperation between the security authorities in the Hanseatic city and those of the federal government. As a result, a suspect was arrested “who was apparently preparing an Islamist bomb attack. (…) The case shows once again how vigilant and efficient our security services must be to effectively protect us against extremist attacks,” said Grote.

(yam/sda/dpa)