The federal prosecutor's office has arrested a suspected supporter of the terrorist organization “Islamic State” (ID) in Bernau near Berlin. This was confirmed by a number of media and a spokesperson for ARD. The 28-year-old man from Libya is said to have announced in a chat about his plans to attack the Israeli embassy in Berlin with a firearm. According to the "Bildzautung" it is about a man whose application for asylum in Germany was rejected. The defendant's apartment in a refugee center in Bernau outside Berlin was searched. No weapon was found.
Information from foreign intelligence
In St. Augustin in North Rhine-Westphalia, police officers also searched the home of a relative of the Libyan, who, however, is not suspected of a crime. According to ARD, there was previously specific information from foreign intelligence services. There were also reports that after the attack the suspect planned to go abroad.
The public prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe confirmed that the arrested man planned to carry out an attack with a firearm against the Israeli embassy.
Nearly 500 investigations are related to Islamic terrorism
The federal prosecutor's office is responsible, among other things, for crimes related to Islamist-motivated terrorism. Germany's Attorney General Jens Rommel identified it as one of the main threats to the country in an annual review of his office. Of the more than 700 investigations opened last year in the field of terrorism and state security, almost 500 are related to Islamist terrorism.