Islamist extremists had apparently planned an attack on the synagogue in Hagen on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.

A 16 year old suspect Syrian and three others were arrested.

The North Rhine-Westphalian Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) said on Thursday afternoon that the security authorities had received “a specific and very serious tip”.

"The reference allowed specific conclusions to be drawn about an Islamist-motivated threat situation".

The word “concrete” means that the security authorities were “clearly aware” of both the apparently planned time of the crime, the alleged perpetrators and the target of the attack, according to the Minister of the Interior.

Reul did not say where the clues came from.

From security circles it was said that the information had been transmitted by a foreign secret service.

Pure burger

Political correspondent in North Rhine-Westphalia.

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On Wednesday evening, after the information in and around the Hagen synagogue, "immediate measures to prevent danger" were initiated, said Reul. A Yom Kippur event planned for the evening was canceled at short notice and a large area of ​​the Jewish place of worship was secured and searched for explosives. However, no dangerous objects were found. The 16-year-old Hagener with Syrian citizenship was identified and provisionally arrested on Thursday morning, Reul said. In the event of an apartment search, three other people would then be provisionally arrested. "To what extent they are involved is still the subject of the investigation." More searches are currently taking place, said Reul on Thursday afternoon. As the public prosecutor's office in Düsseldorf and the Dortmund police jointly announced,is being investigated for the preparation of a serious act of violence endangering the state.

In Berlin, Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht spoke of a "very serious threat situation". The incident awakens horrific memories of the attack on the synagogue in Halle two years ago, said the SPD politician on Thursday, according to a statement from her ministry. “It is unbearable that Jews are once again exposed to such a terrible threat and that the beginning of their highest festival, Yom Kippur, cannot be peacefully celebrated together.” The fight against anti-Semitism in its various forms is of the utmost importance. It is the duty of the state to do everything to protect Jews. "Now it is up to the police and the judiciary to clarify the background to this very serious threat situation," said Lambrecht.

As Spiegel reports, a foreign secret service is said to have become aware of the young person because he behaved conspicuously on the Internet. The young person is said to have spoken to a chat partner about an explosive attack on a Jewish place of worship. The reason for the possible attack is said to have been the beginning of the highest Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur.