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Berlin on high alert with suspected bomber on the loose
[IsraelTimes] Security boosted at capital’s airports and train stations; officials say Syrian national Jaber Albakr could have Islamic State links
Security has been boosted at Berlin’s two airports and at train stations in the capital. The suspect, Jaber Albakr, could have had "an Islamist motive," police sources told AFP. German news agency DPA, citing security sources, reported that Albakr had links to the Islamic State (IS) group. Police said "several hundred grams" of an "explosive substance even more dangerous than TNT"
"Even a small quantity of this substance could have caused enormous damage," police said. Three people with links to Albakr, who arrived in Germany last year as a refugee, have been incarcerated ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... in Chemnitz. Heavily-armed officers, some wearing balaclavas, carried out a vast operation in the neighborhood where Albakr had been living. Around 100 local residents were evacuated from the area, and a loud kaboom was heard in the leafy suburb as police forced their way into the apartment with an entry device. Under surveillance In Chemnitz, part of the city’s main station was sealed off by officers as a remote-controlled robot was deployed to inspect a suspect package on a platform which turned out to be harmless. Police destroyed the explosives found in the apartment in specially-dug holes on land nearby. Albakr had been under surveillance for some time, with the magazine Focus reporting that he was suspected of plotting to attack an airport. Two of his associates were arrested close to Chemnitz’s railway station while a third was taken into custody in the city centre. A package belonging to one of those arrested was undergoing analysis, police added. "They were known to the suspect we are looking for and were arrested and detained," said Bernhardt, who added that the trio were being questioned. Albakr was living in a neighborhood of Chemnitz whose communist-era housing estates are home to many recently arrived refugees. Police in the state of Saxony, where the city is located, issued a search warrant for Albakr after officers received information from domestic intelligence services, a police front man said, saying he was born in Syria in January 1994. They added that Albakr was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and was "suspected of preparing a kaboom." "At present we do not know where (the suspect) is or what he is carrying," police said on Twitter, urging residents to be cautious. German police said previously they had identified 523 people who posed a security threat to the country, around half of whom were known to be currently in Germany. Posted by: trailing wife 2016-10-09 |
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