According to police, a man in his mid-twenties from North Africa was arrested at a refugee home in Borsdorf near Leipzig in the early hours of Saturday. Police reported that the arrest had prevented a potential “acute crime” after state authorities in Saxony received evidence on Friday.
Local newspaper Leipziger Volkszeitung reported that the man was suspected of plotting an attack in Berlin, and is also believed to have made a bomb threat on February 8th that triggered a major police operation in the town.
Police would not confirm the report to DPA on Sunday.
The evidence that led to the arrest came on the same day that an Uzbek man drove a truck into a popular shopping area in Stockholm on Friday, killing four people. Police there have said that the man had “shown interest” in extremist organizations such as Isis.
Germany has been on heightened terror alert after its own recent terror attack in which a man drove a truck into a crowded Berlin Christmas market in December, killing 12 people, in the name of Isis.
On Friday Chancellor Angela Merkel said through a spokesman that Germany stands with Sweden against terror.
“Our thoughts go out to the people in Stockholm, to the injured, their relatives, rescuers and police. We stand together against terror,” the spokesman said on Twitter.
Unsere Gedanken gehen zu den Menschen in #Stockholm, zu Verletzten, Angehörigen, Rettern + Polizisten. Wir stehen zusammen gegen den Terror.
— Steffen Seibert (@RegSprecher) April 7, 2017
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