A threatened attack against a mall in the western city of Essen is linked to the Islamic State extremist group, Germany’s interior minister said Sunday.
Thomas de Maiziere told public broadcaster ARD that Germany’s domestic intelligence service, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, had received “tips of an attack and passed them on” to local security authorities in Essen.
“The case was evaluated several times … and it couldn’t be eliminated that there could have been a concrete attack at this mall. This was prevented,” de Maiziere said.
Daily papers Bild, Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung and public broadcaster WDR had reported earlier, citing anonymous security sources, that a German fighter with the IS in Syria had contacted via online messenger a group of fighters — based in Germany and abroad — and tried to motivate them to attack the mall Saturday.
— AP
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