German police yesterday lifted an alert of an imminent attack in Munich, hours after evacuating two key train stations over fears terrorists were planning a New Year suicide bomb assault.
Officials had said they were tipped off about a plot by the Islamic State group to strike at the southern German city shortly before midnight as Europe prepared to ring in the New Year in an atmosphere of unprecedented security.
European capitals have been on high alert since November last year, when terrorists slaughtered 130 people in a series of gun and suicide attacks in Paris, stoking fears the Islamic State group could stage further attacks over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Photo: EPA
However, German investigators, acting on information from a foreign intelligence service, said they have so far failed to substantiate the threat.
“Overall, I would say that the situation for Munich is as it was before this threat of attack,” Munich Police Chief Hubertus Andrae told journalists yesterday.
Investigators had in hand the names of some of the “five to seven” suspects allegedly planning to blow themselves up at locations that included Munich’s main railway hub and Pasing Station in the western part of the city, he said, but have not yet found any evidence.
“We have examined data relating to these names, but at the moment, we do not know if these names are correct, whether these people exist and where they are,” he said, adding that the suspects were allegedly from Iraq and Syria.
A large deployment of 550 police officers overnight had been reduced to 100 yesterday and Andrae urged the public to “live as you did before.”
Nevertheless, the police chief refuted speculation that the threat was a false alarm, saying: “If there is such information, we have to act.”
German Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maiziere thanked Bavarian authorities for their action, warning in a statement that the security situation in Europe and Germany “remains serious in the New Year.”
“Security agencies continue to expect a high threat stemming from international terrorism,” he said.
Just over an hour before the New Year, police ordered the evacuation of the two stations due to a possible “terror attack,” issuing alerts via Twitter in several languages.
Rail services at both stations were immediately suspended and police urged the public to avoid large gatherings.
Both stations later reopened at about 3:30am.
Regional broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk said the suspects were seven Iraqis living in Munich, who were allegedly planning to work in pairs and blow themselves up at the two stations, as well as other parts of the city.
Germany had been tipped off by both US and French authorities, it said.
The alert brought an eerie silence to Munich’s busy railway hub, which over the summer made headlines for the massive turnout of volunteers welcoming record numbers of refugees to Germany.
Police, including some in riot gear, were stationed overnight at the entrances to the station. Revelers seeking to access the site were turned away.
Meanwhile across Europe, celebrations went ahead as planned, but under the watchful eye of thousands of police and security forces.
With fears of a fresh attack high, both France and Belgium scrapped the traditional New Year fireworks displays in their respective capitals, with Brussels saying it had information about an alleged plot to attack “emblematic sites” over the holiday.
Ahead of the celebrations, Belgian police carried out several raids in Brussels and Liege in connection with the alleged plot, with five people still in custody yesterday morning. All five denied the allegations.
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