BERLIN (AP) – German prosecutors said Tuesday they have filed an indictment against a man who allegedly joined the Islamic State group in Iraq and planned to carry out an attack in Germany on its behalf.
The Iraqi national, identified only as Mahmoud A. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested in June in Esslingen, near Stuttgart.
The federal prosecutor’s office said he has now been formally charged at the state court in Stuttgart with membership in a foreign terrorist organization and preparing a serious act of violence.
The suspect joined IS in Iraq in May 2016, and fought and carried out guard duties for the extremist group until October 2017, according to prosecutors. He then allegedly went to Turkey in consultation with IS, and continued to Germany in October 2022.
From January onward, he planned a bomb attack, prosecutors said. After looking up how to make a bomb on the internet, he allegedly procured the necessary chemicals and components for an ignition device. He was arrested before he could carry out any plan for an attack.