German police detain Syrian teen suspected of planning a terrorist attack

Gerswalde, Germany- According to the Brandenburg Police, they detained a 17-year-old male after receiving a tip that there was a planned terrorist attack. He was detained shortly after his family received a farewell message via WhatsApp.

Police in the state of Brandenburg said the teenager was detained Tuesday in the village of Gerswalde, 100 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of Berlin, after they learned he had sent a farewell message to family members and told them that “he had joined the jihad,” or holy war.

The WhatsApp message talking about jihad to the suspect’s family was sent within the last week and Brandenburg authorities were told of it late Monday night by two other German states, Brandenburg police spokesman Torsten Herbst told The Associated Press.

He said police were investigating but so far “evidence of the planning of a concrete act has not yet been identified.”

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The state Interior Ministry’s office identified the suspect as Syrian, but Herbst said investigators were checking to see whether he falsely registered as a Syrian but was actually from a North African country.” – Miami Herald

BBC reported the teen sought asylum in 2015 after leaving Syria and has been living in a home for unaccompanied underage refugees since 2016. Currently police are searching the home and questioning the teen. Police have not released details surrounding the potential terrorist attack.

Dschihadist in der #Uckermark festgesetzt > 17-Jähriger nach Hinweisen einer Familienangehörigen in Gewahrsam genommen. ^sn pic.twitter.com/IoRZDELUim

— Polizei Brandenburg (@PolizeiBB) May 30, 2017

Image courtesy of AP