Berlin and Brandenburg Security Authorities Investigate Suspected Plot to Attack
A 15-year-old boy was arrested in Zossen, a town in the German state of Brandenburg, amid an investigation into a suspected plot to attack. The authorities are still holding the teenager in custody to prevent a potential terrorist threat, according to a statement from the Potsdam Police Headquarters.
The public prosecutor’s office and the police are withholding further information, citing the suspect’s right to privacy. The authorities cannot provide more details at this time due to the ongoing investigation and the need to protect the individual’s privacy, an official from the public prosecutor’s office said on Friday.
The investigation is believed to have started with information about politically motivated attack plans, which intensified on Christmas Eve, officials said. The police did not reveal how they received the crucial tip-off.
According to reports from the Tagesspiegel newspaper, citing security sources, the suspect is a 15-year-old German national of Iraqi descent, whose parents have an Iraqi migration background. The investigators suspect an Islamist motive, and a report by the rbb (Radio Berlin Brandenburg) claims that the boy was in contact with people suspected of being linked to the Islamic State (IS) via the messaging app Telegram.
The ARD (German public television) reported that an external intelligence agency provided the crucial information to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV).
On the first Christmas day, a special police unit in Zossen, a town in the Teltow-Fläming district, took action, and the teenager was arrested, as there were indications of a politically motivated attack plan during the Christmas period. The Evangelical Bishop Christian Stäblein expressed shock, as reported by the Berliner Zeitung, saying, “I was shocked to hear that a possible attack on a church in Berlin was planned for Christmas.”
The authorities took the boy into preventive custody to prevent a crime from being committed. The Brandenburg Police Law allows for the detention of a suspect for up to two weeks for the purpose of preventing a terrorist attack, with the possibility of an extension.