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CRIME

Dutch suspects arrested over German ATM robbery

Two Dutch nationals have been arrested on suspicion of blowing up a cash machine in Germany and stealing a large sum after a car chase, German authorities said Sunday.

A man uses an ATM machine at a branch of Germany's Sparkasse bank in Berlin.
A man uses an ATM machine at a branch of Germany's Sparkasse bank in Berlin. Two Dutch nationals have been arrested on suspicion of blowing up a cash machine in Germany on Saturday. Photo: John MACDOUGALL / AFP

Using explosives to carry out bank machine robberies has become increasingly common in Germany.

The latest incident took place on Saturday in the centre of Bad Homburg, outside Frankfurt, according to a joint statement from police and prosecutors.

Explosives were used to break open the cash machine, with the bank housing it “badly damaged due to the force of the explosion,” they said.

More than 150,000 euros ($168,000) was stolen before the men made off in a car, with police in pursuit in cars and a helicopter.

READ ALSO: Cashing in: Why Germany is an ‘El Dorado’ for bank machine raiders

The suspects’ vehicle broke through a police barrier on the access road to a motorway but was then brought to a halt by spikes laid across the road.

A first suspect, aged 25, was caught in the area after a short pursuit on foot and the stolen money was recovered from the car.

The second, aged 27, was also picked up in the manhunt, authorities said.

The pair were arrested on suspicion of causing an explosion and theft. They are also suspected of attempted murder due to the force of the explosion in the centre of Bad Homburg.

The hunt for a third suspect is ongoing.

Searches related to the robbery also took place in the Dutch cities of Amsterdam and Utrecht on Saturday, German authorities said.

In February, Dutch police arrested nine suspected members of a gang that stole millions of euros by blowing up cash machines in Germany.

The suspects were believed to be part of an organised crime gang behind 50 cross-border attacks that netted more than five million euros.

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ANTI-SEMITISM

Germany sees sharp rise in anti-Semitic acts

Anti-Semitic acts rose sharply in Germany last year, especially after war broke out between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in October, according to new figures released on Tuesday.

Germany sees sharp rise in anti-Semitic acts

The Federal Association of Research and Information Centres on Anti-Semitism (RIAS) documented 4,782 anti-Semitic “incidents” in 2023 – an increase of more than 80 per cent on the previous year.

More than half of the incidents – which included threats, physical attacks and vandalism – were registered after Palestinian militant group Hamas’s unprecedented October 7th attack on Israel, RIAS said.

Germany’s domestic intelligence agency last week also published figures showing a new record in anti-Semitic crimes in 2023.

A total of 5,164 crimes were recorded during the year, the agency said, compared with 2,641 in 2022.

Anti-Semitic crimes with a “religious-ideological motivation” jumped to 492 from just 33 the previous year, with the vast majority committed after October 7.

Felix Klein, the government’s commissioner for the fight against anti-Semitism, said the RIAS figures were “absolutely catastrophic”.

The Hamas attack had acted as an “accelerant” for anti-Semitism in Germany, he told a press conference in Berlin.

“Jewish life in Germany is under greater threat than it has ever been since the Federal Republic of Germany was founded,” he said.

The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 37,600 people, also mostly civilians, Gaza’s health ministry said.

Islamophobic incidents also increased dramatically in Germany last year, according to a separate report published on Monday.

The CLAIM alliance against Islamophobia said it had registered 1,926 attacks on Muslims in 2023, compared with just under 900 in 2023.

These included verbal abuse, discrimination, physical violence and damage to property.

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