Syrian arrested over alleged machete plot to kill German soldiers

Suspect 'wanted to attract attention and create a feeling of insecurity among the population', say prosecutors

The Upper Franconia barracks in Hof, the northern Bavarian city where prosecutors say the attack was to take place. AP

Authorities in Germany have arrested a 27-year-old Syrian national over an alleged plot to kill soldiers with machetes.

The suspect, who they describe as an “alleged follower of a radical Islamic ideology”, was arrested on Thursday on charges of planning “a serious act of violence endangering the state”.

The man had acquired two heavy knives around 40cm in length in recent days, prosecutors in Munich said.

He planned to use them to “attack Bundeswehr soldiers” in the city of Hof, in northern Bavaria, during their lunch break, aiming “to kill as many of them as possible”, prosecutors said.

“The accused wanted to attract attention and create a feeling of insecurity among the population,” they said.

Germany is tightening border controls after recent deadly knife attacks allegedly carried out by asylum seekers.

Last month, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged swift action to tighten weapons controls following a knife attack in the western city of Solingen in which three people were killed.

A 26-year-old Syrian man, who is alleged to have links to ISIS, was arrested in connection with the attack at a street festival, in which eight people were also injured.

“We will now have to tighten up the weapons regulations … in particular with regard to the use of knives,” Mr Scholz said at the time, adding that “I'm sure this will happen very quickly”.

Germany would also have to “do everything we can to ensure that those who cannot and must not stay here in Germany are repatriated and deported”, he added.

Friedrich Merz, the head of the conservative CDU, Germany's main opposition party, has urged the government to stop taking in refugees from Syria and Afghanistan.

The idea was, however, dismissed by Mr Scholz's spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit, who said a complete stop to asylum applications from those countries would not be in keeping with Germany's constitution.

Immigration and security concerns have shot up the agenda ahead of elections in the north-eastern state of Brandenburg, where the far-right Alternative for Germany is polling strongly.