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Investigators said they suspected “an Islamic motivation” behind the project. All suspects were brought before a judge on Saturday and were detained.
Angelika Warmuth
German authorities announced on Saturday that they had arrested five men suspected of preparing an Islamic-inspired car bomb attack on a Christmas market.
An Egyptian, three Moroccans and a Syrian were detained on Friday on suspicion of involvement in this project, which was supposed to be carried out in Bavaria (south), the police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
The 56-year-old Egyptian reportedly made a call at a mosque to attack a market on the outskirts of the city of Dingolfing-Landau, near Munich, “using a vehicle to kill or injure as many people as possible”, according to the same source.
The Moroccans, aged 22, 28 and 30, agreed to carry out the attack, and the Syrian, aged 37, encouraged them.
Investigators said they suspected “an Islamic motivation” behind the project.
All suspects were presented to a judge on Saturday and were detained.
Last year, a car bomb attack caused six dead and more than 300 injured at Christmas market in Magdeburgcapital of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in eastern Germany. Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen, a Saudi who confessed to driving the vehicle that plowed into the crowd, is currently on trial for the attack.
After an Islamic terrorist attack against a Christmas market in Berlin, which left 13 dead in 2016, the attack committed on December 20, 2024 in Magdeburg definitively put security issues at the forefront in the country.
In 2025, some cities, including Overath near Cologne, decided to cancel traditional markets due to the cost of security measures.
Last year, more than 7,000 Christmas fairs across the country attracted 170 million visitors, generating revenue of 4.2 billion euros — an average of around 25 euros per visitor.