Germany cracks down on teen attack plot

In a series of early morning raids, police detained five male suspects aged 14 to 18 in the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, and Hesse, according to the Federal Prosecutor General’s Office.

The group, calling itself the Last Wave of Defence, is accused of planning attacks targeting refugees and political opponents.

Prosecutors said the members viewed themselves as “the last resort for the defence of the German nation.”

“Their goal was to bring about the collapse of the democratic system in the Federal Republic of Germany through acts of violence, primarily against migrants and political opponents,” the prosecutor’s office stated.

Four of the detained are accused of being members of a terrorist organisation, while one is suspected of supporting it. Charges also include attempted murder, arson, and property damage.

Authorities searched 13 properties in Saxony and Thuringia in connection with the group. The operation is also tied to three other German nationals who were previously taken into custody.

Prosecutors believed the group was founded around April 2024, with three of the suspects considered its ringleaders.

In February, a planned attack on an asylum shelter in Senftenberg, Brandenburg, was foiled thanks to a journalist’s tip.

That same month, police searched a flat and another property in the Saxon city of Meissen, seizing explosives, brass knuckles, knives, ammunition, alarm pistols, and airsoft guns, prosecutors in Dresden said.

A 21-year-old man detained during that operation was accused of procuring the weapons for the planned attack. The explosives recovered were industrially manufactured pyrotechnics.

German Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig called the arrests “particularly shocking,” noting that all five suspects were minors when the group was formed.

She emphasised the urgent need for policies to prevent the radicalisation of young people.(dpa/NAN)