Germany Detains Three IS Suspects Over Attack Plan

BERLIN (Reuters) —
Islamic State slogans painted along the walls of the tunnel that was used by Islamic State terrorists at an underground training camp in the hillside overlooking Mosul, Iraq. (Reuters/Alaa Al-Marjani, File)

German police detained three people in the western city of Offenbach on Tuesday on suspicion of planning a bomb attack on behalf of the Islamic State terrorist group, prosecutors said.

The three suspects wanted to kill as many “infidels” as possible in the planned attack in the Rhine-Main region, Frankfurt prosecutor Nadja Niesen said in a statement.

The main suspect is a 24-year-old German of Macedonian origin who wanted to manufacture explosives and had tried to buy a weapon online. His two accomplices are Turkish nationals aged 22 and 21.

The three suspects are believed to have told people in the past that they identified themselves as IS supporters, Niesen said.

Substances and equipment that could be used to make explosives  were found at the main suspect’s home, she said. The authorities also secured written documents and electronic data.

The main suspect is due to be brought before the investigating judge at a court in Frankfurt later on Tuesday. The judge will decide whether to issue an arrest warrant and order pretrial detention.

Meanwhile, the Dutch state said on Tuesday, it will appeal against a court ruling ordering it to take back dozens of young children of mothers who joined Islamic State in Syria.

A court in The Hague said on Monday that the government must actively help repatriate 56 children living in poor conditions in camps in Syria.

The Dutch foreign and justice ministers both issued statements saying they would seek to overturn the court’s decision, which they said did not take diplomatic considerations into account.

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