Three people have been arrested in Cologne who are accused of planning a terrorist attack on the cathedral. The three would have been stopped shortly before the attack, which according to the three's plan was supposed to take place on New Year's Eve. According to German police, the plan was to use a car as a “means of attack.” According to the North Rhine-Westphalian Interior Minister Herbert Reul, the three arrested belonged to “Islamist groups”. Shortly before Christmas, the Cologne police arrested another person who, according to investigators, was planning an attack on the night of December 24th to 25th.
Who are the three arrested?
The Cologne police chief explained that the three people arrested were connected to the man arrested before Christmas. According to the Bild newspaper, all four are Tajiks and are acting on behalf of the Islamic State-Khorasan, an offshoot of IS in Afghanistan. The investigation, which led to the arrest before Christmas, revealed the three's plan to use a car. However, the German police had no feedback on the details. Officers searched the cathedral's underground car park for explosives. Nothing suspicious has been reported at the moment. Security measures were stepped up, particularly around the church, and a thousand police officers were deployed in the area.
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