ISIS News Today 2017: Terror Threat Pushes Germany to Boost Arms Spending
German authorities confirmed that the planned attack on a large shopping center is linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) extremist group. A foiled plot to bomb the establishment in the western metropolis of Essen prompted police to close its doors to shoppers last weekend.
"There were indications or orders from someone who had traveled to the region (Syria) from Germany. That shows how close the connection is. So it is good that the federal and regional security authorities were vigilant," said Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere.
Police were tipped off of a German ISIS member in Syria who sent instructions on how to assemble a bomb to radicals in his country. The plan was to target the Limbecker Platz mall in North Rhine-Westphalia, which has a population of almost 600,000. "That was stopped," de Maiziere went on.
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"Yesterday we received very serious indications from security sources that a possible attack was planned here for today and would be carried out," a police spokesman said. "That is why we were forced to take these measures." The threat prompted authorities to impose a lockdown on one of Germany's biggest malls with 200 retail outlets.
Heavily armed policemen swarmed the shopping center's perimeter on Saturday, March 11. The train station was also sealed off as canine units searched the area for explosives. Police picked up two suspects in the nearby town of Oberhausen but were released later on, International Business Times said.
Germany is on high alert after a refugee who was denied an asylum drove a truck into a Berlin Christmas market last December, killing 12 people. Critics of Chancellor Angela Merkel blamed her open-door policy to migrants for exposing Germany to terror risks, Reuters reported.
The volatile situation also prompted calls for a more powerful German military, which Merkel is responding to. This year, the country plans to boost its military spending by 5.4 percent or $2.1 billion from last year to make it $39 billion, according to USA Today.
