The intelligence services of Austria, Germany, and Spain have received information that an Islamist cell is preparing terrorist attacks in Europe on New Year's Eve or Christmas, Bild reports. It is about Christmas services in Vienna, Madrid, and Cologne.
According to the publication, authorities have already made the first arrests of suspects in Vienna, and one man has been detained in Germany. The Vienna police issued a notice of an increased terrorist threat in Austria.
Austrian security authorities have stepped up security measures in public places in Vienna and the federal states. It is reported that the security authorities have introduced special measures to protect the most likely places of terrorist attacks.
In Cologne, the Cologne Cathedral will be searched with dogs trained to search for explosives. The police want to make sure that no dangerous objects have been left in the hall.
In Vienna, St. Stephen's Cathedral is reportedly at particular risk.
Earlier, the media reported that two teenagers were detained in Germany on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack. One of them is 15-year-old Edris D., a boy with Afghan roots, and the other is a 16-year-old Russian from Witschtock in Brandenburg named Rasul M.