UPDATE - Suspect arrested over plans to attack German soldiers

UPDATES WITH STATEMENT BY BAVARIAN INTERIOR MINISTER; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Anadolu staff

BERLIN (AA) - German police arrested a suspect for planning to carry out a knife attack on soldiers, authorities said on Friday.

The 27-year-old Syrian man was believed to have planned attacking a group of German soldiers during their lunch break in the southeastern town of Hof, prosecutors said.

According to the Munich public prosecutor's office, the suspect wanted to carry out a sensational attack “to create a feeling of insecurity among the population” in Germany.

Bavarian prosecutors have confirmed that the man was suspected to be a religious extremist, but did not give any details about his possible links to a terror group.

Last month, the Daesh/ISIS terror group claimed responsibility for the stabbing attack in Solingen, in which three people were killed and eight others injured.

Meanwhile, Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told reporters that the suspect was arrested after “someone from his personal environment" tipped off the police about his plans for carrying out an attack.

”The accused is a 27-year-old Syrian asylum seeker. He is said to have consumed drugs in recent years,” Herrmann said, adding that the investigations were ongoing to find out whether the suspect committed criminal offences in the past, and whether he had ties to religious extremist and terror groups.