German police foil knife attack plan at Berlin half-marathon

Credit: Tom Pennington

Credit: Tom Pennington

German police said they thwarted a plan to attack participants and spectators at Sunday's half-marathon in Berlin, the BBC reported Sunday.

Police said six men were arrested for planning to carry out “a violent crime.” Die Welt newspaper reported that one man who was detained planned to mount a deadly knife attack during the race in the German capital.

The men had suspected links to Anis Amri, a Tunisian man who killed 12 people in Berlin during a truck attack in December 2016, the newspaper reported. Amri was shot to death several days later in Milan, Italy.

Sunday, German police said the men detained ranged in age from 18 to 21, but declined to provide further details.

More than 30,000 athletes participated in Sunday’s Berlin Half Marathon. Kenya’s Erick Kiptanui won the men’s race in 58 minuted, 42 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Melat Kejeta won the women’s race in 69:04.

Sunday’s arrests come a day after two people were killed and 20 were injured when a van was driven into an outdoor seating area of a restaurant in Muenster, Germany.

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