Islamic terror
Germany: Five Foreigners Arrested After Planning to Attack Christmas Market "for Allah"
Munich police arrested five foreign men who planned to carry out an Islamist attack on a German Christmas market. Last year saw a similar incident in Magdeburg that killed six and injured hundreds.
German authorities have arrested five men suspected of planning an Islamist-motivated attack on a Christmas market in southern Germany, the Munich public prosecutor’s office announced Saturday.
According to officials, the suspects were targeting a Christmas market in the Dingolfing area of Bavaria, though the specific venue has not been publicly identified. Four of the men have been placed under formal arrest warrants, while a fifth is being held in preventive custody.
Prosecutors said investigators believe the planned attack was ideologically motivated and intended to be carried out using a vehicle. The suspects include a 56-year-old Egyptian national, a 37-year-old Syrian, and three Moroccan nationals aged 22, 28, and 30.
German newspaper Bild first reported the arrests, citing authorities who said the Egyptian suspect had allegedly called for an attack on a Christmas market during sermons at a mosque in the Dingolfing-Landau area.
Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann praised security services for their rapid response, saying “excellent cooperation” between intelligence and law enforcement agencies enabled authorities to prevent a potentially deadly attack.
Security at Christmas markets across Germany remains heightened, particularly following a series of deadly attacks in recent years. In December 2024, a man drove an SUV into a Christmas market in Magdeburg, killing six people and injuring more than 300. German authorities later acknowledged intelligence and warning-sign failures in that case.
The threat remains shaped by earlier attacks as well. In December 2016, a Tunisian asylum seeker who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State drove a truck into a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 people and wounding dozens more. Subsequent investigations revealed significant lapses in intelligence coordination.
German officials have repeatedly emphasized that large public holiday gatherings remain high-value targets for Islamist extremists, prompting increased patrols, vehicle barriers, and intelligence monitoring throughout the Christmas season.