Teenagers Arrested in Germany Over Alleged Christmas Market Attack Plot

The suspects, aged 15 and 16, reportedly planned to use home-made incendiary devices or a van for the attack, amid warnings of heightened Islamist militant threats.

Two teenagers, aged 15 and 16, have been arrested in Germany on suspicion of planning a militant Islamist attack on a Christmas market or a synagogue.
The younger boy, a German-Afghan from the western town of Burscheid, was detained after his home was searched. The 16-year-old, described as a Russian national, was detained in the town of Wittstock/Dosse in the north-eastern state of Brandenburg.
The pair are said to have exchanged information over the Telegram messaging app about using home-made incendiary devices or a van to carry out their plans.
The arrests emerged as German domestic intelligence chief Thomas Haldenwang warned that the risk of Islamist militant attacks was 'real and higher than it has been for a long time' because of the Israel-Hamas war.
The teenagers allegedly planned to leave Germany together after the attack and join the Islamic State-Khorasan Province extremist group, an IS offshoot active in and around Afghanistan.