The Swedish security police Säpo arrested two Afghans, a man and a woman, during the Easter holiday on suspicion of plotting a terror attack in Stockholm county.
Säpo announced the arrests earlier this week, saying that they took place on the morning of Good Friday following a police operation in the Stockholm region.
The suspects were described as Afghan nationals in their 30s who are said to be a couple living together and were registered in a municipality north of the city of Stockholm itself, Dagens Nyheter reports.
According to the newspaper, police suspected an imminent terrorist attack, but it is believed the couple had allegedly been planning the event since January 2nd.
Per Lindqvist, chief prosecutor at the National Unit for Security Cases, gave few details, but said: “I can only say that there were several different reasons that led to the intervention being made just then.”
Lindqvist added that the investigation into the couple had been going on for “a long time” and that officers had secured a large amount of IT material as evidence during the investigation, which could take until the Summer to analyse.
He added that any further potential terrorist threat was over, as there were no suspected co-conspirators.
Both of the Afghans have denied any wrongdoing, and neither was previously known to the police for criminal activity.
The arrests came as French authorities detained an Islamic extremist 18-year-old woman, her mother, and three sisters on suspicion that she was plotting a terror attack on a French church during an Easter service.
France’s General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI), the country’s internal security agency, discovered bomb-making chemicals as well as pre-prepared devices after searching the suspect’s residence.