Germany charges suspected IS member over alleged terror attacks

May 21, 2020

German federal prosecutors said Wednesday they were investigating an alleged member of the Islamic State terrorist group suspected of a series of acid and arson attacks, and of planning killings with a gun and explosives.

The suspect, named only as Muharrem D., faces charges of attempted murder against 27 people by arson, and of grievous bodily harm against six, as well as planning “a serious violent act endangering the state”.

Beginning in mid-April, Muharrem is believed to have committed a series of violent crimes against Turkish-owned businesses and a mosque in Waldkraiburg, a small town near Germany’s border with Austria.

Investigators say he also secured a pistol with ammunition as well as “significant amounts” of bomb-making equipment for planned attacks on nearby mosques, the Turkish consulate in Munich and a major mosque in the western city of Cologne. He manufactured 23 pipe bombs and 34 kilogrammes of explosives.

Investigators said in a statement that German citizen Muharrem “underwent a radicalisation process from 2017 onwards, becoming a follower of an Islamist-jihadist worldview as well as the ‘Islamic State’ (IS) terror group.”