Germany was put on alert this week after security chiefs discovered terrorists were plotting a deadly attack on the Reichstag, home of the German parliament and a popular tourist destination in Berlin, Der Spiegel reported today.
Citing unnamed police sources, the news weekly said that al Qaeda and associated terror groups wanted to launch the ambush in February or March 2011.
The home of German’s parliament attracts thousands of tourists every day and it is being reported that as part of the attack, terrorists would seek to take hostages using firearms and bring about a bloodbath.
The alleged plans prompted German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere to hold a press conference Wednesday, in which he warned of an imminent attack. He put the country on a state of alert but did not reveal details of the suspected Reichstag plot.
The warning came from a jihadist, currently abroad and wanting to renounce his links to al Qaeda, who reportedly contacted the German Federal Criminal Police Office, Der Spiegel said.
The caller’s tip off warned of a terror group comprising six people, with two of the potential attackers believed to already be in Berlin. Four other members of the cell, a German, a Turk, a North African and a further man who the jihadist could not identify, are currently waiting to travel to Germany, he warned officers.