Germany: Ex-soldier charged with planning terror attack

A 22-year-old man who once served in the German armed forces has been charged with plotting a serious attack against the state, the Frankfurt state prosecutor announced on Friday.

Together with his father and brother, he was said to have kept a large number of short and long guns requiring a licence, grenades and ammunition as well as various explosive devices in the district of Hochtaunus, north-west of Frankfurt.

The former Bundeswehr soldier wanted to set up a militant organisation inspired by Nazism, first to conquer Germany and later the whole world, according to the prosecutor’s statement.

Conquered territories were to be cleansed of refugees and migrants.

By July 2020 at the latest, the 22-year-old had become determined to implement his plan, according to investigators.

His 64-year-old father and 21-year-old brother were said to have known about and approved of the plot.

They have been charged with aiding and abetting.

The weapons and ammunition were seized in the spring and summer of 2021.

For the most part, they had been elaborately hidden in a jointly used residential house across three garages located on the property and in two garden plots belonging to the father.

All three are alleged to have violated weapons and explosives acts.

They allegedly had no permit for the possession of weapons.

The suspects have been in custody since their arrest at the end of February 2021.

The case was opened after a woman who had been the main suspect’s girlfriend at the time reported him for physical and verbal abuse.

The man had begun writing a manifesto in February 2016, when he was still a teenager.

In his military career, the man was last stationed at Pfullendorf as a staff soldier with the rank of lance corporal. (dpa/NAN)