The German Police increased the security measures in the Colonia’s cathedralafter receiving indications about a possible attempt of a islamist groupreported security sources.
“People should not stop going to church because the protection offered by the authorities works,” stressed Herbert Reul, the Minister of the Interior of the state of Rhinelandwhere the city of Colognein western Germany.
Police personnel controlled all visitors to the cathedral, according to a reporter from the DPA news agency.
There was also a police presence with agents and around a dozen vehicles.
Tourist visits were canceled, reported the churchone of the most emblematic monuments of Germanylocated in the west of the country.
The threat also pointed to a possible attack on a church in Vienna.
The German Interior Minister Nancy Faeserassured in statements to journalists that the reaction to the possible attack demonstrates the seriousness with which the security authorities take this type of threats.
“We all love our Christmas traditions and will not be intimidated or restricted in our way of life,” declared the social democratic politics.
“But it is no less true that we take the threat of Islamist terrorism and we are extremely vigilant,” he added.
On Saturday night, agents searched the cathedral with dogs trained to detect explosives, but none were found.
Police also increased security measures in Vienna, the Austrian capital.
In Austria, the intelligence service detained four people on Saturday as part of investigations into an Islamist network and were being interrogated, according to a source from the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence of the Austrian Ministry of the Interior.
“At the moment no further details can be given,” he added.
The Bild newspaper also reported an arrest in Germanyalthough at first there was no confirmation in this regard.
The group in question could be related to the jihadist branch Islamic State of Khorasanwhich has been in armed conflict with the Taliban for several years in Afghanistan.
The spokesperson for the Cologne Police, Wolfgang Baldesdeclared today: “We received a leak about a dangerous situation around the Colonia’s cathedralpossibly also for the cathedral itself, related to Christmas Eve”.
Buckets He declined to comment on where the warning came from.
At the same time, he made it clear that the reinforced security measures in the Cathedral They will continue for some time.
“Now we have to see how quickly we can actually verify this warning. It is true that as long as a dangerous situation cannot be ruled out, we will of course continue these measures,” he said.
Source: Ambito
