Three of the five men arrested in Bavaria over an alleged Islamist plot to attack a Christmas market entered Germany on skilled-worker visas, according to a report by Bild.
German authorities last week detained the five suspects over plans to carry out an attack on a Christmas market in the Dingolfing area. Investigators believe the group intended to ram a truck into a crowd.
The three visa holders are Moroccan nationals identified as Bilal T., Mounir A., and Adil H. German media report they arrived in the country on November 14, entering on the final day of their 90-day visas. All three were employed at a car dealership in Wallersdorf.
The dealership is owned by Egyptian national Moustafa M., who is known to police for radical Islamist statements and is alleged to have called during a Friday prayer for an attack on a Christmas market aimed at killing or injuring as many people as possible.
The remaining suspects are an Egyptian and a Syrian national. Four men are being held under arrest warrants, while a fifth is in preventative custody. Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said rapid cooperation between security services helped prevent a possible attack.
