Advertisement

UPDATE: Berlin terrorism suspect worked at primary school

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
UPDATE: Berlin terrorism suspect worked at primary school
Photo: DPA

Police in Berlin on Tuesday arrested a 26-year-old Syrian man accused of planning an Islamist attack, with prosecutors saying he had begun to acquire chemical materials for a bomb.

Advertisement

The accused man, Abdullah H., exchanged instructions on ways to manufacture weapons and explosives with other suspected Islamists in a chat group on the Telegram messaging app, Berlin prosecutors said.

The Syrian stands accused of preparing "a serious act of violence against the state" and was arrested at his Berlin home, they added.

The suspect was employed as a cleaner at a primary school in the capital. Previously, he had worked until September in the Bode Museum on Berlin's Museum Island, said Interior Senator Andreas Geisel (SPD) on Tuesday.

Abdullah H. was originally reported to be 37. The State Attorney General's Office has corrected this to 26.

There was no information about a possible target for the suspect's attack. "We assume that there was a considerable danger," said Geisel. 

In a separate statement, federal prosecutors specializing in terrorist cases said special police forces searched the suspect's flat on Tuesday.

Abdullah H. is alleged to have started procuring the equipment and chemicals needed to build a bomb.

"This was to be detonated at an unknown time in an unknown place in Germany
in order to kill and injure as many people as possible", said Geisel.

The accused notably purchased acetone and hydrogen peroxide in recent months, they added. Both are key components in the highly explosive TATP.

Germany remains on alert following a series of Islamist attacks, the deadliest of which was a truck rampage at a Berlin Christmas market in 2016 that killed 12 people.

Dozens of suspects have been arrested or charged over alleged terror plots in recent years.

READ ALSO: German police arrest three suspects over 'planned terror attack' near Frankfurt

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

Anonymous 2019/11/19 20:49
So sad. He was likely getting ready for Christmas. These frequent discoveries could all have been avoidable had politicians been more concerned about our European security and future.

See Also