Germany Detains Syrian Asylum-Seeker Suspected of Plotting Attack

Via The New York Times:

A German special police unit has detained a Syrian asylum-seeker who they said they suspected of plotting a terrorist attack during the opening of the national soccer league season, German officials said Tuesday.

Germany has been on edge after four attacks in a span of six days last month, including two linked to the Islamic State.

Officers from the special unit arrested the 24-year-old suspect on Friday in the city of Mutterstadt, in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate, after the authorities in Duisburg received a tip about a possible attack, the Interior Ministry in neighboring North Rhine-Westphalia said. The suspect has been questioned and will remain in detention pending the outcome of the investigation, the ministry said.

Michael Maurer, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, said there had been indications that the suspect was plotting an attack directed at the opening of Germany’s top soccer league, the Bundesliga, later this month.

German officials would not confirm reports that the suspect had links to the Islamic State but said that the investigation was continuing.

German security officials are on high alert after the attacks in July. The attackers in the two assaults claimed by the Islamic State, a 17-year-old who said he was from Afghanistan and a 27-year-old Syrian, had both applied for asylum in Germany.

The German public is justifiable skittish now, after having the country flooded with migrants from Syria.

There has been so much bad news out of Europe regarding terrorism lately that it’s probably a good idea to highlight an occasional victory or preemptive strike. There is obviously a strong chance that the guy they’re detaining isn’t working alone if he is a legitimate threat. With over a million refugees coming in just last year, the odds are pretty good that he has friends.

That’s the kind of problem that might be good to consider ahead of time.

If you’re allowed to that without be labeled as some sort of “-phobic.”