BERLIN: Berlin authorities said they arrested six people Sunday over an alleged plot to carry out a "violent crime" at the German capital's half marathon which attracted 36,000 runners and big crowds of onlookers.

Prosecutors and police said in a statement they had received "isolated indications that those arrested (Sunday) between the ages of 18 and 21 may have been involved in planning a violent crime in connection with this event".

The security authorities said that on that basis and after a deadly van rampage on Saturday in the western German city of Muenster, they decided to swoop on the suspects.

"Due to the still ongoing investigation, no further information can be provided at this time," they added.

The statement spoke only of "several" arrests but a tweet by the police mentioned six arrests carried out by special forces.

Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller thanked security forces for preventing an "impending attack with their vigilance and police work".

A police spokesman told AFP later that they had confiscated "data storage devices, mobile phones, two vehicles and a small knife" during the raids.

He confirmed that the suspects arrested "might have planned something during the half marathon" but "we don't know what exactly".

The half marathon went off early Sunday without incident amid warm spring sunshine.

Berlin's top security official, Andreas Geisel, had said that the city of 3.5 million people would need to review its precautions for the half marathon following the Muenster attack in which two people were killed.

Some 630 police officers were deployed to guard the race.

Authorities believe the 48-year-old German perpetrator of the Muenster attack, who shot himself dead, had mental health problems and was not politically motivated.

A report by daily newspaper Die Welt which police did not confirm said that the main suspect in the Berlin probe planned to attack race participants and onlookers with two "specially sharpened knives".

It added that the suspect had links to Tunisian asylum-seeker Anis Amri, who carried out a deadly truck attack on a Christmas market in the German capital in December 2016.

In Germany's worst jihadist attack to date, Amri hijacked a truck and murdered its Polish driver before killing another 11 people and wounding dozens more by ploughing the heavy vehicle through the crowd.

He was shot dead by Italian police in Milan four days later while on the run.

A source close to the investigation told AFP that the Welt reports that a knife attack was being planned "went too far".

The daily Tagesspiegel reported earlier that a "foreign intelligence service" had warned Berlin police of the possibility of an attack on the half marathon. And it confirmed the suspicion of a link between one of the suspects and Amri.

Police declined to comment on the report.

Like other European nations, Germany remains a target for Islamist militant groups, in particular, because of its involvement in the coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria, and its deployment in Afghanistan since 2001.

A court last month sentenced a 26-year-old Palestinian asylum seeker to life in prison for killing one and wounding six others with a knife in a Hamburg supermarket out of a "jihadist" motive last July.

Germany's security services estimate there are around 10,000 Islamist radicals in Germany, some 1,600 of whom are suspected of being potentially violent.

Political opponents of Chancellor Angela Merkel, including the far-right AfD party, have charged that the security situation has worsened with the arrival of more than one million migrants and refugees since 2015, many from African and Middle Eastern conflict hotspots. — AFP </s> Police cars are lined up in front of an apartment building in Chemnitz, Germany, on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016.

BERLIN — German police are searching for a man suspected to have been planning a bombing attack after a raid on his apartment in the eastern city of Chemnitz turned up nothing, authorities said Saturday.

Police raided the apartment after receiving information from Germany's domestic intelligence agency on Friday night about the alleged attack plans, Saxony police spokesman Tom Bernhardt told reporters.

Neighbors reported hearing an explosion, but that was the police assault team blowing open the apartment's door, police spokeswoman Kathlen Zink told The Associated Press.

She said police found nobody in the apartment, that that they are now searching for the suspect.

She refused to provide details about the suspect or about whether any explosives had been found in the apartment.

"The investigation is continuing," she said.

Germany has been on edge since two attacks this summer claimed by the Islamic State in which multiple people were injured and both assailants died. Two other attacks unrelated to Islamic extremism, including a deadly mall shooting in Munich, have also contributed to fears. </s> Two alleged supporters of a neo-Nazi terrorist group have been arrested after 155kg of explosives were discovered in Germany.

One suspect had built a homemade bomb emblazoned with a swastika and symbol of the Nazi SS, prosecutors announced on Saturday.

The men, aged 18 and 24, were arrested after the explosives were discovered inside a house in Lauterecken, causing more than 80 local residents to be evacuated from the surrounding area so the material could be safely removed.

The pair denied planning a terror attack when they were arrested in December, SWR television reported, claiming to be amateur pyrotechnics preparing for a New Year’s Eve firework display.

The two men, of German origin, are being held on suspicion of violating explosives laws and preparing a “serious act of state-threatening violence”.

Prosecutors are examining a possible link to the Oldschool Society (OSS), an extremist organisation known to have planned attacks on refugee centres and mosques since it emerged in 2014.

A spokesperson said the teenage suspect told investigators he had attended an OSS meeting in Rhineland-Palatinate state over the summer, the DPA news agency reported.

Four members of the group are already on trial in Munich for allegedly planning an attack on asylum seekers.

Federal prosecutors charged the three men and a woman with “establishing a terror organisation” and preparing attacks using explosives in January 2015.

Officials said members had planned to bomb refugee accommodation in the German town of Borna, and travelled to the Czech Republic to buy pyrotechnics which they planned to make into bombs packed with nails and fuel.

The interior ministry has classified the OSS as a dangerous organisation but it was also dubbed the “stupidest terror group in Germany” by media reporting that members discussed plots openly on Facebook.

A rise in extremism has been documented in Germany since the start of the refugee crisis and a series of terror attacks, with far-right groups including Pegida staging protests against immigration and the “Islamification of Europe”.

Numerous attacks on refugee centres have been documented as part of a rise in political violence by both the right and left wing.

German security services also remain on alert for possible Isis-inspired terror attacks following the massacre at a Berlin Christmas market and two previous attacks over the summer. </s> Anti-terrorism forces arrested four people Friday in southern France, including a 16-year-old girl, and uncovered a makeshift laboratory with the explosive TATP and other ingredients for fabricating a bomb. France's top security official said the raid thwarted an "imminent attack."A police official said the teen had pledged loyalty to the Islamic State group in a recent video.The prosecutor's office said around 70 grams (2.5 ounces) of TATP were seized in the Montpellier-area home of a 20-year-old man, along with a liter each of acetone, oxygenated water and sulfuric acid. TATP, which can be made from readily available materials, was used in the deadly November 2015 attacks in Paris and the March 2016 attack in Brussels carried out by Islamic State extremists.Two other men were arrested, a 33-year-old and a 26-year-old, along with the teenage girl, according to the prosecutor's office, which handles terrorism investigations in France.The police official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation, said one of the suspects was believed to be planning a suicide attack but that the investigation had not yet uncovered a specific target.He said person in the group had tried to reach Syria in 2015 and was known to intelligence services. The group - notably the girl - attracted new attention with their social media postings, he said.Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux said the arrests in three locations in the Montpellier area "thwarted an imminent attack on French soil."The country's prime minister praised the work of anti-terror investigators."Faced with the heightened threat, there has been an extremely strong mobilization of our intelligence services to ensure the French are protected to the utmost," said Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.France is still under a state of emergency after several deadly attacks in 2015 and 2016.(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)2/10/2017 7:49:25 AM (GMT -6:00) </s> Iraq has extradited a 20-year-old Iraqi suspected of raping and killing a 14-year-old girl in Germany last month, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Saturday.

“I’m glad that the alleged perpetrator wanted by German authorities is back in Germany,” Seehofer said in a statement, adding that the investigation of the case could now be accelerated.

“For the girl’s family, that is only a small consolation, and my thoughts are with them during these difficult hours,” Seehofer said. “But for the state and our society, it is important that crimes are cleared up and suspects are brought to justice.”

Police in the Kurdistan region of Iraq said on Saturday the Iraqi suspect had admitted to the murder of 14-year-old Susanna Feldman in Germany, where the case has stoked the immigration debate.

The Jewish teenager from Mainz near Frankfurt was found dead on Wednesday in a wooded area in Wiesbaden, near a refugee centre where the alleged attacker had lived, German police said.

An autopsy showed she had been the victim of a violent and sexual attack. Police said there was no evidence her religion had been a factor and the Central Council of Jews in Germany cautioned against attributing any anti-Semitic motive.

Kurdish security forces had taken the suspect, identified by German authorities as Ali Bashar, into custody on Friday after he fled from Germany last week.

“Officers in Zakho (in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region) called me and said they had located the suspect and would arrest him as soon as he comes to the city,” Dohuk city police chief Tariq Ahmed told Reuters.

“He had been staying at a hotel in Dohuk and after realising the police were after him left for Zakho to stay at a relative’s house. He was asleep there at night and was arrested in that house at 5:30 (a.m.),” Ahmed said.

He said the suspect had confessed to killing the German teenager during interrogation by Kurdish security authorities.

German media reported earlier that Bashar was expected to be extradited to Germany on Saturday evening and questioned by German investigators on Sunday.

German federal police declined to comment on the details emerging from the suspect’s arrest or on the report on the timing of extradition.

Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her dismay at the crime and said it should be a reminder to Germans of the need to do whatever possible for the integration of immigrants.

“The incredible suffering experienced by the family, the victim, affects everyone, including me,” she said on the sidelines of a G7 summit meeting in Canada.

“The cooperation in this regard between German and Kurdish security authorities worked well here … It is good that the alleged perpetrator was caught, that he probably also will be returning to Germany,” Merkel said.

READ MORE: Germany to designate ‘safety area’ for women at New Year’s Eve party

She added, “This is a reminder to all of us, first, to take the task of integration very seriously, to make our common values very clear, again and again. But also to punish any crime. We can only live together if we all stick to our laws.”

Merkel’s decision to take in large numbers of asylum seekers during Europe’s 2015 migrant crisis has stirred a political backlash, with many politicians calling for new rules to make it easier to deport immigrants.

Bashar had been living in Germany as a refugee since 2015, German media have reported.

German police set up a special call centre for tips from the public and issued releases in Arabic and Turkish. They said on Thursday that Bashar had likely fled to Erbil in the KRG. </s> BERLIN: Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq detained a 20-year-old Iraqi man on Friday on suspicion of raping and murdering a 14-year-old Jewish girl in Germany, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said.

Seehofer told reporters the Kurdish security forces had taken him into custody early on Friday at the request of the German police, who identified him as Ali Bashar. He had been living in Germany as a refugee since 2015, German media said.

The case has galvanised Germany at a time when its decision to take in large numbers of migrants and asylum seekers during Europe's 2015 migrant crisis is already stirring a political backlash. Many politicians are calling for new rules to make it easier to deport immigrants thought to be violent.

The victim, Susanna Feldman, was Jewish, although police said there was no evidence her religion had been a factor in the crime, and the Central Council of Jews in Germany cautioned against attributing any anti-Semitic motive to her attacker.

"I am pleased to announce a successful manhunt in the case of Susanna F.," Seehofer told reporters after a meeting with state interior ministers.

The teenager, from the city of Mainz near Frankfurt, was reported missing on May 22. She was found dead on Wednesday in a wooded area near train tracks in Wiesbaden on the opposite bank of the Rhine, near a refugee centre where the suspected attacker had lived, police said. An autopsy showed she had been the victim of a sexual and violent attack.

Police told reporters on Thursday that Bashar had likely fled with his family to Erbil, Iraq, several days ago. They said they had set up a special call centre for tips from the public, and had issued releases in Arabic and Turkish.

Joachim Stamp, integration minister in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, called on broadcaster ZDF for a recurring, quarterly migration summit of officials from the federal government, the 16 states and local officials.

Stamp said it was crucial to accelerate the asylum process and to expand the list of countries to which rejected asylum seekers could be deported.

The Iraqi suspect was already under investigation for a suspected robbery. He was appealing a December 2016 decision by German authorities to reject his asylum application.

Germany does not have a general extradition agreement with Iraq but must negotiate such moves on an individual basis, said foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr. She declined to comment on the specific case of Bashar. </s> Three people have been arrested after German police found several hundred grams of explosives in an apartment they raided in connection with a Syrian man suspected of planning a bomb attack in the eastern city of Chemnitz.

The explosives were “relatively well hidden” in the apartment, which was raided yesterday, said Saxony police spokesman, Tom Bernhardt.

Police are still searching for the suspect, identified as 22-year-old Jaber Albakr, from Damascus.

Two people who knew Albakr have been taken into custody in the Chemnitz train station area, with a third held in Chemnitz centre. The three are being questioned.

The explosives were not considered stable enough to move and they would probably be destroyed in place once other residents in the area have been evacuated, said Bernhardt.

The apartment was raided after local authorities received a tip-off from Germany’s domestic intelligence agency that the suspect might be there, and that he was thought to be planning a bomb attack.

When police knocked down the door, however, no-one was inside.

Saxony police put out an alert, identifying the suspect and urging anyone with any information of his whereabouts to contact authorities. They released a photo of a dark-haired man wearing a hooded sweatshirt.

“We have to assume that he is dangerous,” Bernhardt said. Authorities have not said where they think the suspected attack was going to take place.

The suspect is believed to be connected to Islamic extremist groups. Bernhardt said, however, that police are still trying to determine what his motivation might be.

Authorities released no details about how long the suspect had been in Germany, and Bernhardt said it was unclear whether he had come in the wave of asylum seekers in 2015.

Germany took in 890,000 asylum seekers last year, with Syrians fleeing civil war forming the single largest group.

Neighbours reported hearing an explosion during the raid, but that was the police assault team blowing open the apartment door, said police spokeswoman Kathlen Zink.

Germany has been on edge since two attacks this summer claimed by Islamic State in which several people were injured and both assailants died.

Two other attacks unrelated to Islamic extremism, including a deadly mall shooting in Munich, have also contributed to heightened fears. </s> German police detain several people in Berlin who they suspect of planning a crime linked to Sunday's half-marathon, with newspaper Die Welt saying one was suspected of planning a knife attack at the popular event.

German police say they have arrested six people aged between 18-21 over a planned attack on the Berlin half-marathon. (Credit: Reuters)

German police said they have detained several people in Berlin who they suspect of planning a crime linked to Sunday's half-marathon, and newspaper Die Welt said one was suspected of planning a knife attack at the popular event.

Berlin police said in a statement they had detained suspects aged between 18 and 21 after searches in the districts of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and Neukoelln in the capital.

They did not say how many people they detained.

"Because of the ongoing investigation, no further information can be given at the present time," police said in a statement.

Die Welt said in its online edition the police had detained four men, one of whom they suspected of planning knife attacks at the half-marathon.

The newspaper said the four men were linked to Anis Amri, a Tunisian man with Islamist militant ties who killed 12 people in an attack in Berlin in December 2016 when he hijacked a truck and drove it into a crowded marketplace.

In its unsourced report Die Welt said the main suspect was known to Amri and had planned to stab to death spectators and runners at the half-marathon.

The suspect had in his possession two knives which had been specially sharpened for this purpose, the report said.

A record 36,000 athletes entered the 38th edition of the Berlin half-marathon, the biggest in Germany.

Thousands of people lined Berlin streets to watch the event, which ended with no reported incidents.

Kenyan Erick Kiptanui clocked a course record of 58 minutes, 42 seconds, equalling the fastest time in the world this year, the race's organisers said on their website.

Amri's attack in Berlin in 2016 prompted German lawmakers to call for tougher security measures. No major Islamist militant attack has been carried out in Germany since.

Earlier on Sunday, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said the government would do everything possible to protect citizens, but added: "We have again experienced that … absolute security is unfortunately not possible."

Mr Seehofer was speaking in Muenster, where a man drove a camper van into a group of people sitting outside a restaurant on Saturday, killing two of them before shooting himself dead.

Authorities have said the attacker was a 48-year-old German citizen with mental health problems and that there was no indication of an Islamist militant connection. </s> BERLIN police have reportedly arrested six people on Sunday over an alleged plot to carry out a “violent crime” at the German capital’s half marathon which attracted 36,000 runners.

Prosecutors and police said in a statement they had received “isolated indications that those arrested between the ages of 18 and 21 may have been involved in planning a violent crime in connection with this event”.

The security authorities said that on that basis and after a deadly van rampage on Saturday in the western German city of Muenster, they decided to mount the raids against the suspects.

“Due to the still ongoing investigation, no further information can be provided at this time,” they said.

The statement spoke only of “several” arrests and searches of flats and two vehicles in Berlin.

But a tweet by the police mentioned six arrests carried out by special forces. The half marathon went off early on Sunday without incident, drawing large crowds amid warm summer sunshine.

Berlin’s top security official, Andreas Geisel, had said earlier that the capital of 3.5 million people would need to review its precautions for the half marathon following the Muenster attack in which two people were killed.

Some 630 police officers were deployed to guard the race.

MORE: VAN PLOUGHS INTO CROWDS IN GERMANY

Authorities believe the 48-year-old German perpetrator, who shot himself after the Muenster attack, had mental health problems and was not politically motivated.

A report by daily newspaper Die Welt, which police did not confirm said that the main suspect in the Berlin probe had links to Tunisian asylum-seeker Anis Amri, who carried out a deadly truck attack on a Christmas market in the German capital in December 2016.

In Germany’s worst jihadist attack to date, Amri hijacked a truck and murdered its Polish driver before killing another 11 people and wounding dozens more by ploughing the heavy vehicle through the crowd.

He was shot dead by Italian police in Milan four days later while on the run.
German media uncover a large ISIL terrorism plot which had been foiled in 2016.