‘ISIS terrorist’ arrested near Euro 2024 host city hours after attack warning
The incident is the latest in a series of terror-related offences since the tournament began.
A man accused of being an ISIS ‘sleeper agent’ has been arrested in Germany hours after officials raised fears of an attack at Euro 2024.
The Iraqi man, named by authorities as Mahmoud A, was detained yesterday in the town of Esslingen on the outskirts of Stuttgart just hours after German authorities warned of the threat of Islamic terror attacks throughout the tournament.
Investigators say the man arrived in Germany in October 2022 but is believed to have been affiliated with ISIS since 2016.
The arrest took place just hours before the host nation played Hungary in their second Euro 2024 match in Stuttgart.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser praised authorities for their swift action, and said the arrest demonstrated Germany’s commitment to cracking down on terror threats, declaring: ‘Our security authorities are extremely vigilant, follow every tip-off and strike hard to protect our country.’
It is currently unclear how the suspect managed to gain entry to Germany given his history.
On Monday, head of German intelligence agency BfV Thomas Haldenwang warned Germany had become a prime target for extremist groups throughout the tournament- but said the threat from ‘radicalised lone wolves with no clear ties to terrorist organisations’ also posed a significant concern.
It comes as German officals have dealt with a strong of ‘lone wolf’ attacks over the past week which has seen a number of incidents erupt at fanzones across the country.
On Friday, German police shot dead an Afghan man who killed one person and wounded three others at a viewing party for the tournament’s opening match in Wolmirstedt, a town close to Berlin.
Anti-terror police were also forced to shoot an axe-wielding man over the weekend who attempted to throw a Molotov cocktail at a fanzone in Hamburg.
Another suspected ISIS agent who applied to work as match-day security was also arrested by border guards at Cologne-Bonn airport last week after he was accused of transferring money to ISIS-K in 2023.
Police across Germany have had leave cancelled in a desperate bid to avert disaster, with some 22,000 officers deployed to reinforce border, railway and airport security for the duration of the four-week tournament.
Berlin has even been forced to draft in security personel from overseas to deal with the operation, which will see around 2.7 million supporters attend games stadiums across Germany between now and mid-July.
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