Four young people from North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg are said to have planned an Islamist terrorist attack. The suspects, aged 15 and 16, have been in custody since Easter on suspicion of terrorism.
The accused are strongly suspected of having prepared a terrorist attack “in accordance with the goals and ideology of the Islamic State (IS)” Dortmund, Düsseldorf and Cologne were discussed as attack cities, it was said, with knives and Molotov cocktails being considered. The internet definitely played a role in their radicalization, says NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU), who is happy that the attack plans had been thwarted so quickly.. A machete and a dagger were seized during searches in DüSselderfors, but no evidence of the construction of incendiary devices was discovered, security sources said. The father of one of the suspects had already been noticed earlier. He was investigated because he was said to be collecting donations for IS.