three people arrested in connection with planned attack on Cologne Cathedral

German police announced on Sunday, December 31, the arrest of three suspected Islamists suspected of having planned an attack on New Year’s Eve against the Cologne Cathedral, with the help “of a car”. These arrests were made in the wake of another arrest made for the same reason shortly before Christmas in Germany. The suspects are part of “Islamist people groups”specified the regional Minister of the Interior, Herbert Reul, during a press conference.

A Cologne police official, Frank Wissbaum, spoke of a “network of people from Central Asia”. It’s a car that was meant to be used “to the planned attack” alleged, according to the authorities, specifying that they do not know how, precisely, it was to be committed. The underground car park of Cologne Cathedral was inspected using explosive detection dogs, but nothing suspicious was found. The police also reinforced security measures for New Year’s Eve around the religious building.

The arrest near Cologne of a Tajik, just before Christmas, suspected of wanting to attack the cathedral, led investigators to arrest other members of this alleged Islamist network. At the same time, the Austrian police also announced the arrest of three suspects in Vienna. According to German media, the alleged members of this network are Tajiks acting on behalf of the Islamic State-Khorasan (EI-K), a regional branch of IS particularly active in Afghanistan. This network planned to attack religious buildings during the end-of-year holiday period.