German police arrest 10 suspected of planning terror attack

Prosecutors’ spokesman says cell suspected of connection to Islamic State and of planning a ‘serious act of violent subversion,’ with no indication of a specific target

By AP 30 March 2019, 2:06 pm 1

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Illustrative: German police stand in front of a Dresden courthouse where a trial against a Syrian jihadist is set to begin, in Dresden, Germany, Monday, March 18, 2019. (Jens Meyer/AP)

FRANKFURT, Germany — German police say they have arrested 10 people in the west of the country on suspicion of planning an Islamic extremist terror attack.

The dpa news agency reported the suspects were taken into custody on Friday and Saturday in the towns of Essen, Duesseldorf, Wuppertal, Moenchengladbach, Duisburg and Ulm, citing a spokesman for prosecutors in Duesseldorf.

The prosecutors’ spokesman was quoted as saying Saturday that the group was suspected of a connection to the Islamic State group, either as sympathizers or a splinter group, and of planning a “serious act of violent subversion,” although there was currently no indication of a specific target. Prosecutors were not yet certain if criminal cases would be brought against all those taken into custody.

Officials said one of the suspects was from Tajikistan but provided no information about the nationality of the others.