German police are hunting for up to seven people suspected of plotting suicide attacks on people celebrating New Year’s Eve in the city of Munich.
More than 500 police and specialist officers were drafted in ahead of midnight to help evacuate and secure Munich’s main rail station and another terminus in the west of the city.
These have now reopened and train services resumed as a top security official in Bavaria scaled down the alert and said the threat of a terror attack was no longer acute.
Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann said: “We no longer have concrete indications for a terror threat today or tomorrow at a specific location.”
But he warned the overall terror threat in Europe remained high.
He said German authorities were tipped off by a “friendly intelligence service” – thought to be France – about an apparent attack, which would have been carried out around midnight.
The “concrete tip” indicated a group of up to seven Islamic State militants was planning a massacre involving suicide bombers targeting train stations in the Bavarian capital.
Mr Herrmann said the authorities were investigating “intensively”, but so far had made no arrests.
He called on Munich residents to be cautious, but not to let terror threats interfere with their everyday lives.
Munich police chief Hubertus Andrae has said it was unclear whether the suspects are still in the city or even in Germany.
He told a news conference on Friday: “We received name. We can’t say if they are in Munich or in fact in Germany.”
Bild is reporting that authorities have the names of the suspects after a tip-off.
The newspaper reported the plot involved plans for suicide bombers to detonate explosives at the stations, with others waiting to detonate secondary devices when emergency services arrived at the scene.
Rail services at both stations were suspended at 10:30pm, with a warning from police urging the public to avoid large crowds.
But many revellers continued their planned celebrations.
Torben Ostermann, a German journalist in Munich, told Sky News: “It’s just now 2016 and people are celebrating the New Year like nobody seems to know about the terrorist warning.”
He added: “It’s a bit weird, though, that we have a terrorist warning and people are firing off their fireworks.”
The stations have re-opened this morning, but Munich police are warning people to remain vigilant.
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said: “The situation in Europe and Germany continues to be serious in the New Year.
“Indeed we did get indications (for a planned attack) yesterday, which were evaluated by the Bavarian intelligence authorities and federal police.”
European cities have been on high alert over the Christmas period, with both Brussels and Paris cancelling traditional fireworks shows over security fears.
Belgian police have also arrested five people over an alleged New Year plot in Brussels.
Days after attacks in Paris in November, in which 130 people were killed, a football stadium in Hannover was evacuated after a threat was made against a friendly match between Germany and the Netherlands.
"Concrete Tip" Led To Munich Terror Crackdown
