A 22-year-old Syrian man was arrested in Berlin on Saturday on suspicion of preparing a “jihadi” attack, German authorities said.
According to a spokesman for Berlin prosecutors, the suspect was planning a “jihadist-inspired attack”. A unit of the police Special Task Force (SEK) was deployed to take the man into custody.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the arrests showed that “the terrorist threat in Germany, although often abstract, is nevertheless heightened.”
He said in a statement that the Syrian had been in Germany since 2023 and that his activities indicated preparations for an attack, which were detected in time.
Iris Spranger, interior minister of the Berlin city-state, said the case showed that “we are extremely vigilant together with security authorities to protect people in the capital.”
Equipment suitable for making bombs was seized after special police units searched three Berlin residential addresses linked to the suspect, officials said.
According to prosecutors, the man shared propaganda on the “Islamic State” terrorist organization on social media. The material included jihadist songs, as well as a call to broadcast them.
Berlin has been under vigilant surveillance, especially since an attack at a Christmas market in 2016, when a truck plowed into a crowd, killing 12 people.
Edited by Shawn Sinico