Germany detains suspected Islamist over plot to attack soldiers

German authorities have detained a man on suspicion of planning a machete attack on soldiers in the southern state of Bavaria, prosecutors in Munich said on Friday.

A 27-year-old man from Syria with suspected Islamist leanings is accused of planning to kill soldiers with two machetes during their lunch break in the town of Hof, in north-eastern Bavaria.

The suspect had already bought the weapons but was detained on Thursday after police received a "tip-off from a witness close to the accused," Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said.

The man is accused of planning a serious act of violent subversion and has been remanded in custody.

The plot comes weeks after a Syrian asylum seeker allegedly killed three people in the western German city of Solingen, reigniting debates on the country's migration and deportation policies.

Herrmann said authorities are investigating whether the planned attack in Hof was linked to the incident in Solingen, with a counter-terrorist unit handling the case.

"The connections, the environment and the criminal history of the accused must first be clarified in more detail, as well as whether there is an Islamist background here," the interior minister stated.

Authorities have "no concrete indications" of further plots, Herrmann said, but he warned that "the danger of Islamist attacks has increased again throughout Europe since the Hamas attack on Israel."

Suspect in Germany for 10 years

The Munich public prosecutor's office said the suspect arrived in Germany 10 years ago and enjoys subsidiary protection, a status that applies to migrants who do not qualify as refugees but are recognized to face a risk of suffering serious harm if they return to their country of origin.

"The accused has no previous convictions," prosecutors said, and there were no plans to deport him.

The local authorities said the man was renting a house in Hof, a town that hosts a technical reconnaissance unit of Germany's Bundeswehr.

The mayor of Hof, Eva Döhla, thanked police for their intervention and expressed her shock at the planned attack.

"There has never been anything like this in Hof before - living together with more than 48,000 people from 127 countries has always been peaceful, and we will do everything we can to ensure that this remains the case in the future," she said.

"I am therefore wholeheartedly grateful to the police and security forces for their decisive action in preventing a terrible crime," Döhla added.