THE PICTURE CAN NOT BE USED AFTER THE SUSPECT HAS BEEN ARRESTED - In this photo provided by police Sachsen shows Syrian 22-year-old Jaber Albakr from Damascus, and is urging anyone with any information of his whereabouts to contact authorities. German police have raided an apartment building in the eastern city of Chemnitz Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016 after receiving information someone may be planning a bombing attack. (Police Sachsen via AP)

BERLIN (AP) — German investigators found several hundred grams of "highly volatile" explosives in an apartment they raided Saturday in the eastern city of Chemnitz as they sought a Syrian man suspected of planning a bombing attack. The suspect remained on the run but three contacts were detained and being questioned, police said.

Saxony police spokesman Tom Bernhardt told reporters the explosives were found by investigators who combed carefully through the apartment, which was raided midday.

"They were not just lying out on the kitchen table, they were relatively well hidden," he said.

About 100 people were evacuated from the five-story apartment building in Chemnitz as the bomb squad removed the explosives, which were not considered stable enough to move far. They were then destroyed in a controlled detonation, police said.

"It's a highly volatile mixture," Bernhardt said, adding that experts said it was considered it more dangerous than TNT. He did not identify the type of explosive.

The apartment was raided after local authorities received a tip from Germany's domestic intelligence agency that the suspect might be there and that he was thought to be planning a bombing attack. When police knocked down the door, however, no one was inside.

Saxony police put out an alert, identifying the suspect as 22-year-old Jaber Albakr from the Damascus area, and urged anyone with information of his whereabouts to contact authorities. They released a photo of a dark-haired man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and said he was last seen wearing similar clothes.

"We have to assume that he is dangerous," Bernhardt said.

Two people who had "contacts" with Albakr were taken into custody near the Chemnitz train station and a third was found downtown, Bernhardt said, adding they were being questioned with the hope that they might help authorities find Albakr.

Authorities have not said where or when they think the suspected attack was going to take place.

The German news agency dpa, citing unidentified German security sources, said 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 but said the man was "known" to German intelligence.

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 huge wave of asylum-seekers in 2015. Germany took in 890,000 asylum-seekers last year, and Syrians fleeing civil war were the single largest group.

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

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> 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> BERLIN — German investigators found several hundred grams of explosives in an apartment they raided Saturday in the eastern city of Chemnitz as they sought a Syrian man suspected of planning a bombing attack. The suspect remained on the run but three contacts were detained and being questioned, police said.

Saxony police spokesman Tom Bernhardt told reporters the explosives were found by investigators combing carefully through the apartment, which was raided earlier in the day.

"They were not just lying out on the kitchen table, they were relatively well hidden," he said.

He said the explosives were not considered stable enough to move and they would likely be destroyed in place once other residents in the area were evacuated.

The apartment was raided after local authorities received a tip from Germany's domestic intelligence agency that the suspect might be there and that he was thought to be planning a bombing attack. When police knocked down the door, however, no one was inside.

Saxony police put out an alert, identifying the suspect as 22-year-old Jaber Albakr from the Damascus area, 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 and said he was last seen wearing similar clothes.

"We have to assume that he is dangerous," Bernhardt said.

Two people who had "contacts" with Albakr were taken into custody near the Chemnitz train station and a third was found downtown in the city, Bernhardt said. They were being questioned with the hope that they might help authorities find Albakr, he said.

Authorities have not said where they think the suspected attack was going to take place.

The German news agency dpa reported, citing unidentified German security sources, that 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 and would only say he was "known" to German intelligence.

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, and Syrians fleeing civil war were the single largest group.

Neighbors reported hearing an explosion during the raid, but that was the police assault team blowing open the apartment door, police spokeswoman Kathlen Zink 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> 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> BERLIN: According to the information given by the police, twenty five people suffered injuries in an explosion destroyed an apartment building in the western German city of Wuppertal.

Police said the explosion rocked the several-story building shortly before midnight Saturday with a large bang, scaring people in surrounding homes so much they ran out into the street in a panic. The detonation was so severe it destroyed the building’s attic and the top three floors, the German news agency dpa reported.

Fire then broke out in several different parts of the apartment building and firefighters had trouble dousing the flames because parts of the building kept collapsing. They were able to rescue four severely injured from inside the building and sent them to the hospital. Another 21 people were slightly injured and treated by emergency staff at the scene.

Police said Sunday they were still trying to get the fire under control and were investigating the cause of the explosion. They would not comment when asked if the explosion could possibly be terror-related.

A car nearby was destroyed, buried under window frames that were blown onto it by the impact of the explosion. Emergency personnel on Sunday picked up bricks and furniture on the street from the explosion. </s> Two people have been injured in an explosion outside a metro station in Stockholm, Sweden.

A 60-year-old man picked up an object off the ground and it blew up, say police .

The object is reported to be a hand grenade.

The man was rushed to hospital, where he was being treated for serious injuries.

A 45-year-old woman was also taken to hospital with injuries, it was reported.

The blast happened outside the Varby Gard metro station in a southern district in the capital.

The object that the man picked up was a hand grenade, Aftonbladet reported.

A bomb squad was called to the scene to analyse evidence and look for additional explosives.

In a statement, police said they were alerted to an explosion outside the station just after 11am on Sunday. They said there was no reason to believe the event was terrorism-related.

A police spokesman said: "According to information, the injured man picked up an object from the ground.

"This had then exploded and hurt the man seriously. He has been taken to hospital."

Lars-Ake Stevelind, a spokesman for the fire department, told Sveriges Radio: "Someone has used explosives. We do not know more than that."

Police cordoned off the metro station and launched a search of the area. A section of the metro line was shut.

Varby Gard station is on the Stockholm metro's T13 line, which links several southern and northern suburbs to the city centre. </s> Police in Norway’s capital have said the shooting at a mosque that wounded one person is being investigated as an attempted terrorist attack.

One suspect is in custody after the shooting at the Al-Noor Islamic Centre in the Oslo suburb of Baerum on Saturday.

Police said they believe no-one else was involved. </s> A man in Stockholm picked up a suspected hand grenade from the ground that detonated in his hand Sunday, accidentally killing him and injuring his female companion near a subway station, Swedish police said.

The blast took place about 11 a.m. just outside the Varby Gard subway station in Huddinge — a residential district in greater Stockholm, said regional police spokesman Sven-Erik Olsson.

"The man was seriously injured after he picked up something from the ground and this device exploded," Olsson said, adding that experts were examining the object.

The man, in his 60s, was rushed to hospital but later died while the woman, in her mid-40s, received "minor wounds" to her face and both legs, Olsson said.

Police said fragment damages on the victims and findings at the scene indicated the explosive could be a hand grenade, possibly an old one.

"We're suspecting that it's a hand grenade of some sort," Lars Alvarsjo, chief of Stockholm's southern police district, told the Swedish national broadcaster SVT.

Police initially were investigating the incident as an attempted murder, but later said there was no reason to believe that the couple was targeted. Olsson also said nothing has indicated that terrorism was involved.

Police checked in and around the subway station after the blast to make sure there were no additional explosive devices.

Alvarsjo said Swedish police have "unfortunately" noticed a rise in the use of hand grenades by criminal groups in the Nordic country. The three biggest cities in Sweden — Stockholm, Goteborg and Malmo — have seen several violent gang-related incidents in the past few years.

Many of the illegal hand grenades found in Sweden are being imported from former Yugoslav nations, he said. </s> BERLIN — German police searched nationwide Sunday for a 22-year-old Syrian man believed to have been preparing a bombing attack and were questioning a second Syrian man on suspicion he was involved in the plot.

The man in custody was one of three apprehended in the eastern city of Chemnitz on Saturday. He was the renter of the apartment that police raided in their search for the main suspect, Jaber Albakr from the Damascus area of Syria, Saxony police spokesman Tom Bernhardt told The Associated Press. The other two men have been released.

He said the man in custody was Albakr's "countryman" but would not give other details.

Bernhardt also confirmed reports that Albakr had come to Germany in the flood of 890,000 migrants who entered the country in 2015 and had been granted asylum.

Nobody was in the apartment when police SWAT teams blew down the door midday Saturday, but investigators found "several hundred grams" of a volatile explosive stashed in the flat. Even though it was a relatively small quantity, it could have been enough to cause significant damage, Bernhardt said.

"With this highly volatile explosive, even a few hundred grams is no trifle," he said. "For an explosive of this type, it was a considerable amount."

He said experts were still trying to determine whether it was the same explosive used in the deadly Nov. 13 attacks in Paris and the March 22 attacks in Brussels known as TATP, or triacetone triperoxide.

TATP has been used in many other attacks over the years, and is by violent extremists because it's fairly easy to make and detonate.

The explosives were destroyed Saturday in a controlled detonation by bomb squad experts in a pit dug outside the five-story apartment building where they were found because they were considered too dangerous to transport.

The raid came after Saxony police were given a tip from Germany's domestic intelligence service that Albakr may be planning an attack. He had been on the agency's radar, but Bernhardt said it was not clear how long.

Der Spiegel magazine, citing Saxony police, said Albakr left the apartment building Saturday morning while police were at the scene preparing their raid. It was not immediately clear how he eluded police.

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.
The police bomb group moved out to an apartment in Rosenhoff, Oslo, when informed that there might be explosives in the apartment. One person was found slightly injured.