[VOA News] German police said Thursday they have foiled an alleged Islamic bully boy terrorist attack on a popular May Day bicycle race planned for Friday.Police in Frankfurt have locked away
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
a Turkish-German man and his Turkish wife.
An employee of a hardware store alerted police after the male suspect bought an unusually large amount of chemicals that could be used to make explosives.
Authorities raided the couple's home and found a stash of weapons and bomb-making ingredients.
Police believe the two may have planned to bomb the annual Frankfurt bike race which attracts thousands of people.
Hesse state police chief Stefan Mueller said "Clearly since the Boston Marathon [ bombing in the U.S. two years ago ] these security concerns have been part of the considerations of how to deal with that [ danger ] before every marathon race in Germany. And that is also valid for the cycle race."
Despite the arrests, officials have canceled Friday's race as a precaution.
| Update from The Times of Israel: |
Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw!
a married couple suspected of having planned an attack and have seized an assault rifle, ammunition and a pipe bomb in their home, Die Welt daily reported Thursday.
The newspaper's online edition identified the couple arrested overnight in western Hesse state only as Halil and Senay D., saying they were believed to have links to Salafist and Islamic bully boy groups.
Authorities had noticed them last month when they purchased a large amount of hydrogen peroxide and methylated spirits that can be used to make explosives, giving a false name to the building supplies shop in the western city of Frankfurt, the report said.
Local police confirmed to AFP they had arrested a man and a woman in the town of Oberursel near Frankfurt,
| ... a pretty little town in the very pretty Taunus hills above Frankfurt am Main. We ate our first proper meal in Germany at the Indian restaurant on the town square... |
Die Welt said the couple had been under observation by a special police unit for several days.
It said Sherlocks believed the male suspect had contact with the ultra-conservative Islamic Salafist community in Frankfurt, and al-Qaeda.
Police had decided to raid the home late Wednesday and arrest the couple after the man had been spotted walking through a nearby wooded area which will be part of the route of a cycle race on Friday, because they wanted to rule out any possible security threat to participants and onlookers.