Five Arab nationals involved in the plot: Germany foils an attack on a Christmas market

German authorities have announced that they have thwarted a planned attack targeting one of the country’s Christmas markets, allegedly prepared by five individuals holding the nationality of three Arab countries.

The public prosecutor’s office in the German city of Munich announced on Saturday the arrest of five people suspected of being involved in planning an attack on a Christmas market near Dingolfing, in the state of Bavaria, in southern Germany.

According to a report by the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle prosecutors suspect that an “Islamist motive” lay behind the planned attack.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the detainees include an Egyptian national aged 56, a 37-year-old Syrian, and three Moroccan nationals aged 22, 28, and 30.

Based on preliminary findings of the investigation, the Egyptian suspect is believed to have called for carrying out the attack from inside a mosque in the Dingolfing-Landau area, and the operation was allegedly intended to be carried out using a vehicle.

The arrests are believed to have taken place on Friday, before the suspects were brought before an investigating judge on Saturday.

The German newspaper Bild reported that a foreign intelligence service is believed to have provided the crucial information that helped prevent the plot.

Bavaria’s Interior Minister, Joachim Herrmann, told Bild: “Thanks to the excellent cooperation between our security services, several suspects were arrested within a very short period of time, preventing a potential terrorist attack in Bavaria.”

A Bavarian media group also reported that the suspects were arrested “in the area of the Suben border crossing,” that is, in the border region with Austria.