Young people are said to have planned an Islamist-motivated attack during the Christmas season

The Brandenburg security authorities have apparently thwarted an attack during the Christmas season. Accordingly, a young person from the Teltow-Fläming district is said to have planned such an act, as the state police headquarters in Potsdam announced on Friday afternoon.

According to the press release, the Brandenburg police became aware of a tip about a suspected politically motivated attack planning during the Christmas season, and information about this was consolidated on the evening of December 24th. The investigation is ongoing and the Brandenburg police are in contact with other security authorities.

Islamist motive cannot be ruled out

When asked, the police did not provide any further information about the suspect, the possible target of the attack or the whistleblower. According to Tagesspiegel information from security circles, the suspect is 15 years old and a German citizen with an Iraqi migration background on the parents’ side.

According to Tagesspiegel information, the investigators have not ruled out an Islamist motive, but the young person is said to have only expressed very vague “attack plans for the Christmas season”. What exactly he was planning – whether a Christmas market was to be the target of the attack, as in Magdeburg – is now the subject of the investigation.

Special operations team in action

The State Security Office of the State Criminal Police Office began the investigation together with the Potsdam public prosecutor’s office and initiated the necessary measures, “so that as a result a young person from the Teltow-Fläming district was identified and a search was carried out on him on the morning of December 25th,” it said on the part of the police. In addition to the special operations team, various Brandenburg police forces are in action.

The teenager was taken into custody after the search. According to the police, he was brought before the Potsdam district court that same evening, which confirmed his detention on the basis of the Brandenburg Police Act.