These arrests were made in the wake of another arrest that had already taken place for the same reason shortly before Christmas in Germany.
The suspects are part of “groups of Islamist people” who “at the moment are more active than usual”, said the regional Minister of the Interior, Herbert Reul, during a press conference.
A “network of people from Central Asia”
A Cologne police official, Frank Wissbaum, spoke of a “network of people from Central Asia”. It is a car which was to be used “for the alleged attack plan”, according to the authorities, specifying that they do not know how precisely it was to be carried out.
The underground car park of Cologne Cathedral was inspected using explosive detection dogs, but nothing suspicious was found. The police also reinforced security measures for New Year’s Eve around the religious building.
It was the arrest near Cologne of a Tajik, just before Christmas, already suspected of wanting to attack the cathedral, which led investigators to arrest other members of the alleged Islamist network and to be able to specify the planned attack under discussion. At the same time, the Austrian police also announced the arrest of three other suspects in Vienna.
Germany on alert for several weeks
According to German media, the alleged members of this network are Tajiks acting on behalf of the Islamic State-Khorasan (EI-K), a regional branch of IS particularly active in Afghanistan.
This network planned to attack religious buildings during the end-of-year holiday period, at Christmas or New Year’s festivities, in Cologne, Vienna and even Madrid, according to German media.
Germany has been on alert for several weeks in the face of the risks of Islamist attacks, particularly since the start of the war in Israel and Hamas. At the end of 2016, an Islamist truck attack targeting a Christmas market in Berlin left 12 dead.