Germany’s decision to declare a terrorism alert and dispatch heavily armed police around the nation was set off by phone calls from a man who said he wanted to quit working with terrorists.
According to the New York Times, the man warned of a pending Mumbai-style attack.
The German Federal Criminal Police received the call earlier this month, prompting Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière to backtrack on an appeal for calm among the general public, while law enforcement and intelligence forces made behind-the-scenes efforts to safeguard the nation from a radical Islamic threat.
The phone call led Berlin to deploy heavily armed officers around the nation, including at tourist sites like the Brandenburg Gate.
The caller claimed to be a jihadist working with terrorists in the Pakistan-Afghanistan region.
He phoned the federal police thrice providing what law enforcement officials said was concrete information: plans for a team of armed terrorists to rampage through the Reichstag, the popular tourist site that also serves as the home for Germany’s Parliament.
The caller was not identified.
At the moment, security agencies are focused on four or five possible terrorist plots aimed at different locations around the country.
THAINDIAN
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