Five men attacked people in a vehicle at a Christmas market in the Dingolfing region, according to the Munich public prosecutor’s office. Authorities are investigating religious motivations. Five men suspected of planning an attack on a Christmas market in southern Germany were arrested, according to the Munich public prosecutor’s office this Saturday (13/12).
Arrest warrants were issued for four suspects and a fifth was taken into custody. They are accused by the agency of having organized an attack, possibly on board a vehicle, on a Christmas market in the region of the municipality of Dingolfing, in the state of Bavaria.
The arrests reportedly took place on Friday and the men were brought to court on Saturday.
According to the public prosecutor, there are suspicions of religious motivation. The detainees are a 56-year-old Egyptian, a 37-year-old Syrian and three Moroccans aged 22, 28 and 30. According to the preliminary state of the investigation, one of the suspects had called supporters to a mosque in the Dingolfing-Landau region.
Authorities did not say when the attack was expected to take place or how concrete the plans were.
Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told German newspaper Bild that the circumstances of the case were still under investigation. “Thanks to the excellent cooperation of our security authorities, several suspects were arrested in a short time, thus preventing a potentially Islamist-motivated attack in Bavaria,” he said.
According to Bild, a foreign intelligence agency warned the German authorities.
Christmas markets under high security
Spending on security around Christmas markets in Germany has soared this year, following a series of attacks at events like this in recent years. Many municipalities invest in the installation of barriers preventing vehicle access to the fairgrounds.
In December 2024, a massive hit-and-run at a Christmas market in Magdeburg left 6 people dead and around 300 injured. A similar accident occurred in Berlin in 2016, when a man drove a vehicle and killed 12 people at a Christmas market.
gq (DPA, OTS)
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