German police detained four people last night on suspicion of planning an attack on a synagogue in the western city of Hagen, DPA reports.
Among those detained was a Syrian aged 16, Reuters reported.
Additional evidence is currently being collected, including at the home of the detained teenager.
North Rhine-Westphalia’s interior minister, Herbert Royle, said there was a “risk of an attack on a synagogue in Hagen” which was “probably prevented” by police.
“The police raid prevented any specific danger,” a Hagen police press release said.
This happened on the eve of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jews, and caused the surrounding areas around the synagogue and the abolition of religious services.
The anti-terrorism authorities also joined the investigation, the Dusseldorf prosecutor’s office said.
#Germany: Young person is said to have planned a terrorist attack on a synagogue via @SPIEGEL_English | #terrorism #terrorist #explosives #attack #violence #cbrne #synagogue #terror #prevention #highthreat #threat #threats #investigation #security https://t.co/6eLW1EjcT3
— High Threat Response (@HT_Resp) September 16, 2021
Security sources told the DPA that a major police operation in Hagen was the result of allegations from a foreign intelligence service that someone was planning a terrorist attack.
Two years ago, on the day of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, an armed right-wing extremist tried to break into a synagogue in the city of Halle in Saxony-Anhalt. He killed two people at the door of the synagogue and wounded two others while hiding from the crime scene.
The 28-year-old pleaded guilty to organizing the attack in Halle, and last year a German court sentenced him to life in prison.
During the trial, the accused expressed anti-Semitic and racist views and put forward a conspiracy theory.