BERLIN — Three extra folks have been detained Sunday in reference to a reported risk of an assault on the Cologne Cathedral over the vacations, German authorities stated.
The detentions got here solely days after a 30-year-old Tajik man was detained in relation to an alleged plot to assault the world-famous cathedral by Islamic extremists within the western German metropolis.
The suspects have been detained within the western cities of Duisburg, Herne and Dueren within the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and their residences have been additionally searched there. No particulars about their identities have been launched.
All of the detained suspects — together with the Tajik who was arrested final week — allegedly belong to a bigger community that included folks throughout Germany and in different European international locations, in line with Cologne police chief Johannes Hermanns, German information company dpa reported.
The assault was imagined to have been carried out with a automobile loaded with explosives, native media reported.
Cologne police stated in a Sunday information convention that the cathedral’s underground parking storage had been searched and that explosives detection canine had been deployed — however nothing was discovered. Since the early morning, the doorway and exit of the underground storage had additionally been checked for suspicious exercise.
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul known as the newest detentions a “success, for which I would like to thank the investigators.”
Islamic extremists have at all times been energetic, however they’re at the moment extra energetic than common and the Catholic cathedral was a major goal for them, Reul stated, in line with dpa. “The police always try to be a few steps ahead,” he added.
Police had acquired details about a deliberate militant assault on Cologne Cathedral shortly earlier than Christmas. The assault was to be carried out on New Year’s Eve.
The metropolis’s world-famous cathedral has been below excessive safety for every week and the risk led to the closure of the home of worship for vacationers since Christmas Eve.
Usually, greater than 100,000 vacationers go to the cathedral within the final week of the 12 months. In latest days, solely worshippers have been allowed to enter the constructing for Mass, however they needed to undergo thorough safety checks involving sniffer canine.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”