Instructions from IS

Afghans allegedly planned attack in Sweden

The parliament in Sweden

(Bild: AP)

On Tuesday, two suspected Islamists were arrested in Gera in Thuringia (Germany) on suspicion of terrorism. The two Afghans are accused of planning an attack with firearms near the Swedish parliament.

In the summer of 2023, they are said to have received instructions from an offshoot of the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS). One of the suspects (30) is accused of having joined the Islamic State Province of Khorazan (ISPK) as a member in August 2023. The other man (23) is alleged to have supported the terrorist organization. Specifically, both Afghans are alleged to have collected donations for IS in Germany in the amount of 2,000 euros, which then allegedly went to the organization via intermediaries.

An ISPK member

(Bild: AFP)

Reaction to Koran burnings
The two are also suspected of having arranged to commit murder. The planned attack was supposed to be a reaction to the Koran burnings carried out in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries at the time. According to the authorities, the target was to be the police and other people. To this end, the Afghans had coordinated closely with functionaries of the ISPK, the IS offshoot in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are said to have researched local conditions online and tried several times to obtain weapons - without success.

"According to everything that is known, the two detainees had already made concrete preparations for a bloody attack," said German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann. However, the constitutional state is well positioned. The State Office for the Protection of the Constitution is said to have been dealing with the two suspects for a long time.

The two men will be brought before the investigating judge of the German Federal Court of Justice on Tuesday and Wednesday. The arrest warrants, which were issued almost two weeks ago, are to be opened there. A decision will also be made on whether they should be remanded in custody.

In recent months, there have been repeated arrests in Germany in connection with the ISPK, which is waging an armed conflict with the militant Islamist Taliban in Afghanistan. Among other things, the group was linked to possible plans to attack Cologne Cathedral around the turn of the year.