The two suspects, a 25-year-old Tajik and his alleged accomplice, were placed in “long-term police custody”. They are suspected of having prepared a “car” attack on the German Cathedral during the New Year celebrations.
On Monday, January 1, the German judiciary extended the detention of two suspected Islamists who were arrested in recent days on suspicion of preparing a New Year's Eve attack on Cologne Cathedral (West). The two suspects, a 25-year-old Tajik arrested before Christmas and his alleged accomplice arrested on Sunday, will be held in “permanent police custody” for another fourteen days, Cologne police said on Monday evening.
However, the judges decided to end the “deprivation of liberty” measures against three other people, including a German-Turk arrested in Bochum (West), all arrested on Sunday. “The judicial investigations are ongoing in all cases,” she added.
Emergency
Those arrested are accused of having prepared a “car attack” on Cologne Cathedral to mark the New Year celebrations. According to German media, this is a network consisting mainly of Tajiks that acts on behalf of the Islamic State-Khorasan (EI-K), a regional branch of IS that is particularly active in Afghanistan.
This network planned attacks on religious buildings during the end of year holidays, Christmas or New Year celebrations in Cologne, Vienna and Madrid. Austrian police also arrested three suspects before Christmas. They belong to “groups of Islamist people” who are “currently more active than usual,” said State Interior Minister Herbert Reul. Germany has been on guard against the threat of Islamist attacks for several weeks, especially since the start of the war against Israel and Hamas.
In late November, the domestic intelligence official said the threat of such attacks was “real and higher than it has been in a long time” because of the war between Israel and Hamas. At the end of 2016, an Islamist truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin claimed twelve lives.