Two men, a 23-year-old and a 30-year-old, from Afghanistan were arrested in the German city of Gera on Tuesday and remanded in custody today. According to German authorities, they must have planned a terrorist attack in Stockholm on behalf of the terrorist organization IS (Islamic State). And the plans must have been “concrete”.
– We have searched the home and workplace and also examined computers and mobile phones, says Ines Petersen, press spokesperson at the German Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Both men are suspected of having actively worked for IS since 2023 and been involved in several activities supporting the organization.
Among other things, in Germany they are said to have collected donations of around 2,000 euros, approximately SEK 22,700, and sent them to IS via intermediaries. The funds were intended to benefit IS members imprisoned in northern Syria.
The men were arrested in a residence in Gera. It is unclear how the men know each other, but they are currently believed to be unrelated.
Same IS branch as Lassoued
The 30-year-old man is said to have declared himself a member of the Afghan IS branch Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) in August 2023. According to the German public service channel Tagesschau is it the same IS branch that 45-year-old Abdesalem Lassoued, who shot dead two Swedes in Brussels last autumn, belonged to.
This summer, the 30-year-old was commissioned by IS to carry out an attack in Europe in response to Koran burnings that took place in Scandinavian countries. Stockholm was then chosen as the target.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the two suspects then planned together, armed with firearms, to carry out the attack in the vicinity of the Swedish parliament and shoot dead policemen and other people there.
The men, in close consultation with ISPK members, had time to prepare by, among other things, searching the internet to become familiar with the area and the environment around the potential crime scene.
– Among other things, they have searched the internet for what the area around the Riksdag looks like in order to map the intended crime scene, says Peterson.
– But they didn’t manage to get weapons for the crime, she continues.
Made preparations from Germany
There is currently no information that the men should have visited Sweden as part of the preparations, according to Ines Petersen.
– We do not know for sure if they have been to Sweden. But we assume that preparations have been made from Germany, she says.
According to the Swedish Security Police, there has been close collaboration with international partners, not least in matters relating to terrorist crime – also connected to this case.
The investigations are expected to last for several months.