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Europe Tightens Security as Poland and Germany Foil Suspected Islamist Christmas Market Plots

Officials credit interagency coordination plus preventive detention tools for disrupting early-stage plots.

Overview

  • Poland charged 19-year-old law student Mateusz W. with preparing a mass-casualty explosives attack and a court ordered three months’ pretrial detention.
  • Investigators in Poland say the suspect studied bomb-making, sought contact with the Islamic State, and had data storage devices and items related to Islam seized during a raid.
  • German authorities in Bavaria arrested five men suspected of planning a vehicle-ramming at a Christmas market, including an Egyptian preacher accused of urging an attack to cause maximum casualties.
  • Bavaria’s interior minister said the case was in an early phase and highlighted cooperation between state security services and specialized prosecutors in making the arrests.
  • German officials separately detained a 21-year-old Central Asian in Saxony-Anhalt under preventive measures with deportation proceedings initiated, as security at markets across Europe was reinforced and the public urged to stay vigilant.