BERLIN: German police have detained four men, one of whom they suspected of planning knife attacks at Sunday's Berlin half-marathon, the newspaper Die Welt reported in its online edition.

Die Welt said the four suspects were linked to Anis Amri, a failed Tunisian asylum seeker with Islamist ties, who hijacked a truck in December 2016, killed the driver and then ploughed into a crowded marketplace, killing 11 more people and injuring dozens of others. </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> Share this article with Google Plus

Police in Germany have stopped a suspected knife attack targeting runners and spectators at Berlin’s half marathon.

Four men have reportedly been detained by officers at the run on Sunday.

The main suspect planned to launch a knife attack on people at the event, according to German newspaper Die Welt.

He is said to have ties with Anis Amri, the terrorist who hijacked a truck and drove it into a Christmas market in Berlin in 2016, killing 12 people.

He had allegedly prepared extra-sharpened knives to use in the attack, Die Welt reported.

News agency DPA reported that police have confirmed arrests connected to the half marathon.

No further details were immediately given. </s> 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> BERLIN: German police said they detained several people in Berlin who they suspected 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," the police added in their 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 especially sharpened for this purpose, the report said.

A record of 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."

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 -- Six men detained over concerns about a possible attack on Berlin's half-marathon were released Monday after investigators found no concrete evidence to back their initial suspicions, German officials said.

Berlin prosecutors said the six men, aged 18-21, were released after their investigation, including the evaluation of data stored on electronic devices, turned up insufficient evidence to keep them in custody.

The six were detained Sunday, the day of the race, and daily Die Welt reported police foiled a plot to attack race spectators and participants with knives.

Police said later Sunday they had received vague indications of a possible attack plot and had taken action because of a generally high threat level, but had no "concrete indications" an attack was planned.

The investigation is still ongoing. </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. </s> The German daily Die Welt is reporting that police have foiled a knife attack on a half-marathon in Berlin.

The paper said special police forces detained four men in connection with Sunday’s sporting event.

They said the main suspect was planning to kill participants and spectators with knives.

German news agency dpa reported that police confirmed arrests in connection with the half-marathon, but gave no further details.

According to Die Welt, the main suspect knew Anis Amri, the Tunisian attacker who killed 12 people and injured dozens when he drove a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin in December 2016.

The paper reported that the suspect, who was not identified, had prepared extra-sharpened knives to use in the attack. </s> BERLIN — Six people were detained in connection with what police and prosecutors allege was a plan to carry out an attack on Berlin’s half-marathon Sunday, German authorities said.

“There were isolated indications that those arrested, aged between 18 and 21 years, were participating in the preparation of a crime in connection with this event,” prosecutors and police wrote in a joint statement.

Berlin police tweeted that six people were detained in cooperation with the city’s prosecutor’s office.

The German daily Die Welt first reported that police foiled a plot to attack race spectators and participants with knives.

The main suspect allegedly knew Anis Amri, a Tunisian who killed 12 people and injured dozens more when he drove a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin in December 2016, Die Welt reported.

One of the apartments Berlin police raided before the race started Sunday was also searched after the Christmas market attack, the newspaper said.

Special police forces detained four men in connection with the race plot, the paper said — different from the six that police reported.

Die Welt reported that the main suspect, who was not identified, had prepared two knives to use in the attack. It also wrote that in one of the searched apartments, dogs trained to find explosives barked when they were taken into the dwelling’s basement.

The local daily Tagesspiegel reported that the main suspect had been under observation for two weeks around the clock. After a foreign intelligence service tipped off German authorities that he was planning to attack the half-marathon, police raided apartments and two vehicles in the Charlottenburg and Neukoelln districts of the city.

The half-marathon was being guarded by about 630 police officers, German news agency dpa reported.
Police in Germany release six men suspected of plotting a terror attack at yesterday's Berlin Half Marathon, one of who was linked to Anis Amri, after failing to find evidence to substantiate their suspicions.