German counterterrorism police have arrested a 19-year-old Syrian suspect who nurtured “concrete plans” to carry out an attack by detonating an explosive device with the aim of killing as many people as possible, the federal prosecutor’s office said.
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The Syrian man, identified by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office (GBA) as Yamen A, 19, was arrested in the early morning of Tuesday in the northeastern town of Schwerin “on suspicion of preparing a serious act of violence against the state.”
“According to the findings [available] so far, Yamen A made the decision to detonate an explosive device in Germany no later than July 2017 in order to kill and injure as many people as possible,” the statement reads.
The 19-year-old, who harbored “concrete plans” to prepare an “Islamism-motivated” terrorist attack, began buying parts and chemicals needed to manufacture an improvised explosive device, the GBA added. It is still unclear if he had identified any specific target for the attack.
It is unknown whether the man was a member of a terrorist organization, the prosecutor’s office said.
