Ice rink terror plotter arrested in Germany

German police on Wednesday arrested a man accused of planning a vehicle-based terrorist attack in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe.

The 29-year-old German citizen, identified only as Dasbar W., had alleged connections to the "Islamic State" group.

Investigators said he planned to ram a vehicle into the stands around a city center ice rink. He had allegedly been applying for jobs as a delivery driver for the past two months but was unsuccessful. He allegedly scouted out the location in August.

The Federal Prosecutor General said the ice rank plans posed a grave threat to the state.

He was also accused of disseminating propaganda videos for IS and promoting its ideology via Whatsapp group chats.

Separately, a man was extradited from France to Germany on Wednesday on suspicion of being a member of the Taliban.

Trained in Iraq

Prosecutors said Dasbar W. traveled twice to Iraq between 2015 and July 2017 to join the "Islamic State" terror group and undergo firearms training. They alleged he also carried out reconnaissance missions for militant attacks in the city of Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Read more: German 'Islamic State' bride regrets joining terror group in Iraq

His arrest came just one day after the one-year anniversary of the Berlin Christmas market truck attack that killed 12 people and wounded dozens more.

Earlier this month, Germany security service warned that the number of radical Salafists had risen to a record high of 10,800, but said the number prepared to mount attacks was in the hundreds.

aw/sms (dpa, AFP, Reuters)