Five Arrested Over Plot to Attack German Christmas Market

December 14, 2025
By Ayinde Adeleke

German authorities have arrested five men suspected of planning an attack on a Christmas market in the Dingolfing-Landau district of Bavaria, prosecutors said on Saturday, December 13, 2025.

According to the Munich public prosecutor’s office, formal arrest warrants were issued for four suspects, and a fifth was taken into preventive custody on Friday, December 12. The suspects were brought before a magistrate the following day.

Authorities suspect the plot was Islamist-motivated and intended to be carried out by ramming a vehicle into a crowded Christmas market, a tactic authorities have been on alert for following previous attacks on such markets in Germany.

The five men include a 56-year-old Egyptian national, a 37-year-old Syrian national and three Moroccan nationals aged 22, 28 and 30, officials said. Prosecutors allege the oldest suspect called for an attack at a mosque in the Dingolfing-Landau area and urged the use of a vehicle “to kill or injure as many people as possible,” though details on how developed the plot was remain unclear.

Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann praised the “excellent cooperation of security authorities,” saying the arrests prevented what could have been a serious attack during the busy festive season.

Officials have not yet confirmed which Christmas market was to be targeted, the specific timing of the planned attack, or whether the suspects had acquired weapons or finalized logistics. Prosecutors emphasized that the suspects are presumed innocent as investigations continue.

German authorities have heightened vigilance for extremist plots on Christmas markets, which have been targeted in past years, including a deadly vehicle attack on a market in Magdeburg in 2024.