Berlin police officers a week ago Thursday, at 6 PM, arrested a Syrian known to police, in front of a snack bar in Neukölln, one of the twelve boroughs of Berlin.
The arrest was confirmed yesterday by a police spokesperson. According to the Bild newspaper, the 21-year-old Syrian was planning a terrorist attack in Israel and had also been recruiting fighters for ISIS.
The Federal Intelligence Service (BND) had received sufficient information from a foreign security service and passed it on to the Berlin authorities, which tapped the suspect’s phone. But a house search did not provide any clear evidence.
The Syrian is said to have arrived in Germany some time ago from Libya with a forged passport, and was planning a chemical attack, Bild reported.
Officers armed with submachine guns and balaclava ski masks knocked the man down on the sidewalk in front of the snack bar, and arrested him. Riot police meanwhile secured the street. However, according to police, the warrant for the man’s arrest was for robbery and charges of violence.
“It was known that the man had a very high potential for violence and aggression, as evidenced by the robbery and assault he had committed,” the police spokesperson said, and confirmed that another preliminary investigation against the 21-year-old Syrian was pending, while he is in custody.