A suspected member of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group was arrested provisionally in the western German state of Rheinland-Pfalz, German media reported on Tuesday.
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German police detained an alleged high-ranking Isis member in the southwestern town of Mutterstadt.
The newspaper quoted a spokesman from the Rhineland-Palatinate interior ministry confirming the arrest.
The interior ministry of North Rhine-Westphalia said there was “no concrete threat” but a witness had alerted the authorities to a planned Islamist attack. A 17-year-old Afghan refugee, armed with an axe and knife seriously injured five people on a train near Wuerzberg on 18 July, before being shot dead by police.
The same source underlined that the man had been arrested during a routine police stop.
In a statement to German tabloid Bild, it said there were “indications something was planned” for the start of Bundesliga – which is the German equivalent of the English Premier League – but did not elaborate further. It said the state prosecutors office in Duisburg had been observing him as part of an investigation.
Germany authorities were called in after received a tip off from prison inmate who is being held at the North Rhine-Westphalia prison.
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Authorities have anticipated a possible attack coordinated with the kickoff of Germany’s top football league, the Bundesliga on August 26.
