Police in Germany arrested five people over the holidays after uncovering a planned terror attack on the iconic Cologne Cathedral. All five suspects are believed to be members of an Islamic terrorist network, but police have not released many details about their identity. The European press, however, reports they are members of IS-Khorasan – an offshoot of ISIS based in Afghanistan.
The arrests were made in three different German cities, while police in Cologne set up stiff security measures at the city’s famous cathedral entrance. “How long this measure will be maintained is currently under review,” a police spokesperson said.
The attack was planned for New Year’s Eve, the same night that Muslim migrants assaulted and raped hundreds of German women in 2015. More than 1,000 women were assaulted in Cologne that night, and the following day, German police announced that events had passed peacefully. It was only due to reports by alternative media that the truth was eventually exposed.
Cologne’s police chief Wolfgang Albers was fired over the incident, and the city’s Mayor Henriette Reker was later strongly criticized for appearing to place the onus on German women to keep themselves safe from such attacks. She said women should keep migrant men “more than an arm’s length away.”
The assaults happened only weeks after Germany opened its borders and permitted more than 1 million Muslim males to enter the country in 2015. In 2016, Germany suffered one of the worst terror attacks in its modern history when a Muslim migrant killed 13 and injured 55 at a Christmas market in the capital, Berlin. Several more minor attacks followed, with people stabbed and others mowed down by vehicles.
This year, both Germany and France raised their terror alert to the highest level, and reports indicate that the natives of both countries stayed away from inner city celebrations, which migrants dominated.
Statistics indicate that Muslims comprise around 6-7% of Germany’s population.
