Four minors from North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg are said to have planned an Islamist terrorist attack. They have been in custody since Easter, as the Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor's Office announced on Friday.
The suspects do not correspond to the prevailing image of suspected extremists with an Islamist background, says DPolG federal chairman Rainer Wendt. Wendt emphasized that everyone in society should be aware of the threat that Islamists are deliberately trying to recruit young people to their terrorist goals online. New strange friends, an unfamiliar, exaggerated vocabulary, reticence and withdrawal could be indications, or skipping school could possibly be an indication of a change in personality, Wendt said. It was only in November that two 15 and 16-year-old teenagers were arrested on suspicion of terrorism. They were said tohave sympathized with the so-called Islamic State and planned an attack on a Christmas market. The police will not give up the “required level of proximity to the citizens”