They are only 15 and 16 years old: four young people from North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg are said to have planned an Islamist terrorist attack. Now they are in custody. Two of them are girls.
Düsseldorf - 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, as the Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor's Office announced on Friday. The accused are strongly suspected of having prepared a terrorist attack “in accordance with the goals and ideology of the Islamic State (IS)”. The “Bild” newspaper had previously reported.
According to NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU), those arrested are a 15-year-old from Düsseldorf, a 15-year-old from Lippstadt, a 16-year-old from Iserlohn and a 16-year-old from Ostfildern (Baden-Württemberg). According to the terror investigators, they are said to have agreed to commit a crime - murder and manslaughter - "in conjunction with the preparation of a serious act of violence that would endanger the state".
According to Reul, the police in Hagen initially became aware of the 16-year-old from Iserlohn because there were indications that the girl wanted to leave the country to join IS and fight in its ranks. She is said to have discussed this with the girl from Düsseldorf. When analyzing her cell phone, the investigators came across a second chat in which the attack plans were discussed.
According to the investigation, the 15-year-old from Lippstadt emerged as a driving force. The fourth chat participant was the young person from Ostfildern.
“Only five days passed from the first knowledge to the last arrest,” said Reul. He was happy that the attack plans had been thwarted so quickly. What bothers him is the age of the suspects. “The internet definitely played a role in their radicalization. Social media and internet consumption may also be one of the reasons why child and youth crime is increasing.”
According to security circles, there was no specific attack plan with a time and place. However, Dortmund, Düsseldorf and Cologne were discussed as attack cities. Attacks with knives and Molotov cocktails on people in churches or on police officers in police stations were being considered. Reul also named Hagen and Iserlohn as cities that were initially in his sights. In Iserlohn it was about attacks on churches and synagogues.
According to security circles, a machete and a dagger were seized during searches in Düsseldorf. No evidence of the construction of incendiary devices was discovered. The father of the Düsseldorf suspect had already been noticed earlier. He was investigated because he was said to have collected donations for IS. “Instruments have been found that can be used to kill people,” said Reul.
Islamist influencers are now particularly aimed at young people, it was said. Because of their age, they were probably completely unaware of the cruel activities of IS in Syria and Iraq until 2015.
It was only in November that two 15 and 16-year-old teenagers were arrested on suspicion of terrorism. They were said to have sympathized with the so-called Islamic State and planned an attack on a Christmas market. They were taken into custody in North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg. dpa