Ten men detained near Frankfurt on suspicion of Islamist attack plot

(Reuters) – Ten men were detained in raids around Frankfurt on Friday on suspicion of planning an Islamist attack using a vehicle and guns with the goal of killing as many people as possible, prosecutors said.

Several of the suspects, aged 20 to 42, were German citizens, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office said, without naming the other nationalities.

“They are believed to have agreed to carry out an Islamist, terrorist attack using a vehicle and guns that would kill as many ‘non-believers’ as possible,” the statement from the Frankfurt prosecutors said.

“To prepare the attack, they had already made contact with different arms dealers, rented a large vehicle and collected financial assets to use for the purchase of guns and the execution of the planned murders,” they added.

The main suspects were a 21-year old man from Offenbach, a city near Frankfurt, and two 31-year brothers from Wiesbaden, all of whom were associated with the Islamist Salafist community in the area, prosecutors said.

During the raids, police found and seized over €20,000 ($22,500) in cash, several knives, small quantities of narcotics, a variety of documents and electronic data storage equipment. 

The charges include funding terrorism and conspiring to commit a crime. The accused are due to appear before a judge at the District Court of Frankfurt on Friday afternoon.