US army uniform soldier
US army uniform soldieriStock

The United States has received intelligence regarding a potentially imminent attack being planned against its military personnel stationed in Germany, according to an official memo seen by Newsweek on Sunday.

The US's 66th Military Intelligence Brigade received what was described as "third party information stating there was an [sic] possible imminent attack against US Soldiers located at either Tower Barracks in Grafenwohr or Tower Barracks, Dulmen, exact location, date and time unknown." Newsweek reviewed the information marked unclassified from a senior US intelligence official.

"The source of information stated the attack would be carried out by an unknown Jordanian extremist currently located in Germany near an unknown military base," the report continued. "The unknown Jordanian was described as a loyalist to the Jordanian kinglet and recently advocated killing US soldiers in Germany."

Contacted by Newsweek, US Army Europe confirmed that "a potential threat was identified and investigated last night."

"German and US officials were consulted and no imminent threat was found to exist," a spokesperson said in a statement. "We'd like to remind everyone to stay vigilant and be aware of their surroundings."

In November of 2016, a Jordanian soldier killed three US Army Special Forces outside the al-Jafr base in southern Jordan. First Sergeant Marik al-Tuwayha, the Jordanian soldier, pled not guilty but was sentenced to life in prison.

Several months before that, a Jordanian police captain opened fire in an international police training facility, killing two Americans and three others. The government subsequently portrayed the police captain as troubled.

The document seen by Newsweek regarding the latest threat was a "spot report." Spot reports are "preliminary reports on ambiguous circumstances, not fully evaluated information" and are "intended to alert commanders and staff to anomalies, potential terrorist indicators or other force protection issues," according to the document.

Germany hosts more US troops than any other European country, with some 38,600 deployed to facilities throughout the country.

The US military presence in Germany was established after World War II and was expanded significantly throughout the Cold War. In recent decades the base has served as a hub for US operations across the Middle East, Afghanistan and other parts of Asia.