German authorities announced on Thursday the arrest of a teenager suspected of planning an Islamist-inspired pipe bomb attack, the AFP news agency reports.
During a search of the suspect’s home in the Mainz-Bingen district of western Germany, police found two bayonets, four pieces of piping, and materials believed to be components for a detonator, according to officials.
The Koblenz prosecutor's office stated that the unnamed suspect had been "radicalized online" and had shared "propagandistic content" on social media.
"The teenager glorified the crimes of the Islamic State group and shared their calls for jihad," the office said in a statement.
Investigators revealed that the suspect had "obtained instructions online on how to make pipe bombs and explosives." However, prosecutors noted that there was no immediate indication the suspect was close to executing an attack, as no explosives were discovered during the searches.
Germany has been on high alert for possible Islamist attacks for several years and especially since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7 of last year.
The country's domestic intelligence chief warned that the risk of such assaults is "real and higher than it has been for a long time".
In late October of 2023, police in the western German city of Essen arrested a man who plotted to attack a pro-Israel demonstration.
In December of that year, a 15-year-old boy was arrested in western Germany on suspicion of planning a possible attack on a Christmas market.
Weeks later German police arrested three people over an alleged attack plot targeting the cathedral in Cologne on New Year's Eve.
In late May, German authorities arrested two men suspected of plotting a knife attack on worshippers at a synagogue in the southwestern city of Heidelberg.
Earlier this week, German federal prosecutors announced charges against four alleged members of Hamas, accusing them of acquiring and storing weapons for the group in Europe.
The country has experienced a series of allegedly Islamist-motivated knife attacks in recent months. In August, three people were killed and eight injured in a stabbing spree during a street festival in Solingen.
In June, a police officer was fatally stabbed in Mannheim, with an Afghan national being held as the primary suspect.