Cologne police chief says sniffer canines will search constructing following indications of assault deliberate for New 12 months’s Eve.
German police have searched a cathedral within the western metropolis of Cologne amid warnings of a doable assault deliberate for New 12 months’s Eve.
Cologne police chief Michael Esser stated on Saturday that Cologne Cathedral could be closed and sniffer canines could be introduced in to look the constructing after the night mass service.
“Despite the fact that the knowledge pertains to New 12 months’s Eve, we’re from this night doing every part we are able to to make sure the protection of tourists of the cathedral on Christmas Eve,” Esser stated in an announcement.
Guests on Sunday must endure safety checks earlier than getting into the cathedral.
German newspaper Bild reported that authorities in Germany, Austria and Spain have all acquired indications that an Islamist group was plotting assaults in Europe, with targets presumably together with Christmas lots in Cologne, Vienna and Madrid.
On Saturday, particular forces in Vienna and Germany arrested quite a few suspects, Bild additionally reported.
Al Jazeera couldn’t independently verify the arrests.
Austrian police stated in an announcement they had been boosting safety for church buildings and Christmas markets because of the heightened state of alert.
“On condition that terrorist actors all through Europe are calling for assaults on Christian occasions, particularly round December 24, the safety authorities have taken the corresponding safety measures in public areas,” the police stated in an announcement.
Earlier this month, Spain’s Inside Ministry introduced it might ramp up safety measures for the Christmas vacation interval.
Cologne Cathedral, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Web site in 1996, is considered one of Germany’s hottest vacationer points of interest, attracting greater than six million guests every year.