Four arrested including 16-year-old boy for 'plotting Islamic extremist attack on a synagogue' in Germany on Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur
- Police arrested four people on suspicion of planning an attack on a synagogue
- Thwarted 'Islamist-motivated' attack after a tip from foreign intelligence service
- Came after the teen told someone online he was planning an assault in Germany
Four people, including a 16-year-old boy, have been arrested on suspicion of plotting an Islamic extremist attack a synagogue in Germany on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur.
The detentions took place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, and two years after a deadly attack in another German city on the same holiday.
Police cordoned off the synagogue in Hagen on Wednesday and a worship service planned for the evening was called off.
Officials had received 'very serious and concrete information' that there could be an attack on the synagogue during Yom Kippur, said Herbert Reul, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, where Hagen is located.
The tip pointed to 'an Islamist-motivated threat situation,' and named the possible timing and suspect, he added.
Four people, including a 16-year-old boy, have been arrested on suspicion of plotting an Islamic extremist attack a synagogue in Germany (pictured) on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur
Police cordoned off the synagogue in Hagen on Wednesday and a worship service planned for the evening was called off
Police using sniffer dogs found no dangerous objects in or around the synagogue, Reul said.
On Thursday morning, the 16-year-old, a Syrian national who lives in Hagen, was detained.
Three other people were detained in a raid on an apartment, and authorities are investigating whether they were involved in the suspected plan, the minister said.
Reul said searches were ongoing in Hagen, but gave no details and took no questions. He didn't say where the tip came from.
News magazine Der Spiegel reported, without identifying sources, that the tip came from a foreign intelligence service.
It said the teenager told someone in an online chat that he was planning an attack with explosives on a synagogue, and the probe led investigators to the 16-year-old, who lived with his father in Hagen.
Officials had received 'very serious and concrete information' that there could be an attack on the synagogue during Yom Kippur, said Herbert Reul, (pictured) the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, where Hagen is located
The tip pointed to 'an Islamist-motivated threat situation,' and named the possible timing and suspect. Police formed a 'ring of steel' around the site to prevent the attack
Police using sniffer dogs found no dangerous objects in or around the synagogue in Hagen
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Two years ago on Yom Kippur, a German right-wing extremist attacked a synagogue in the eastern German city of Halle.
The attack on is considered one of the worst anti-Semitic assaults in the country's post-war history.
The attacker repeatedly tried, but failed, to force his way into the synagogue with 52 worshippers inside.
He then shot and killed a 40-year-old woman in the street outside and a 20-year-old man at a nearby kebab shop as an 'appropriate target' with immigrant roots.
He posted an anti-Semitic screed before carrying out the October 9, 2019, attack in the eastern German city of Halle and broadcast the shooting live on a popular gaming site.
German Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht sharply condemned the foiled Hagen attack.
'It is intolerable that Jews are again exposed to such a horrible threat and that they cannot celebrate the start of their highest holiday, Yom Kippur, together,' the minister said.
Two years ago on Yom Kippur, a German right-wing extremist attacked a synagogue in the eastern German city of Halle (pictured, a man draped in an Israeli flag lays flowers in front of the synagogue in Halle in 2019)
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