Two ‘ISIS supporting’ Afghans are arrested in Germany over ‘deadly gun plot to kill police officers and bystanders at Swedish parliament in retaliation for Koran burnings’

Two suspected Islamic State supporters have been arrested in Germany on suspicion of planning a deadly attack on the Swedish parliament in retaliation for the Koran burnings in the country, prosecutors said.

The men, identified only as Ibrahim MG and Ramin N, were arrested in the Gera region of eastern Germany after making “concrete preparations” for the project, the federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement. .

Throughout last summer, a series of controversial protests saw activists desecrate the Muslim holy book outside a mosque and the parliament building in Stockholm, sparking outrage.

At that time, ISIS member Ibrahim MG was tasked by the jihadist group to carry out an attack in Europe in response to the Koran burnings in Sweden, according to German prosecutors.

He is accused of conspiring with Ramin N “to use firearms to kill police officers and others in the Swedish parliament district in Stockholm”, German prosecutors said today.

The two men “made concrete preparations to this effect in close consultation with officials” of a regional branch of ISIS, investigating the site and trying to obtain weapons, prosecutors said.

“They searched the Internet for conditions around a possible crime scene and attempted several times – without success – to obtain weapons,” they added.

Karin Lutz, a spokeswoman for the Swedish Security Service (Sapo), confirmed they were working with German police, but declined to give further details.

Both suspects are charged with conspiracy to commit a crime. Ibrahim MG is suspected of having supported and been a member of a terrorist organization.

Ramin N is accused of supporting a terrorist organization. The group is known as the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISPK), according to German media.

Before the plot, they are also accused of raising around 2,000 euros ($2,170) for ISIS in Germany, which was sent to the group via intermediaries.

Sweden has been on high alert since a series of Koran burnings across the country, mainly by opponents of immigration, sparked outrage in the Muslim world.

During a demonstration, Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi refugee, along with Salwan Najem, set fire to a copy of the Koran in front of the building.

They organized a similar demonstration in front of Stockholm’s main mosque at the end of June.

Both men have repeatedly said they want the Quran banned in the Nordic country, which prides itself on its free speech laws.

THE the fires put Sweden in a situation ‘increased threat» of terrorist attacks, the level of which went from “high” – where it had been since 2016 – to “high” last August.

The country has also seen its diplomatic relations with several Middle Eastern countries strained because of the desecrations.

Sweden condemned attacks on the Muslim holy book but respected its laws regarding freedom of expression and assembly.

Today’s arrests are this is just the latest in Germany regarding alleged plots targeting Sweden.

In October, German prosecutors charged two Syrian brothers with planning an ISIS-inspired attack on a church in Sweden following the Koran burning.

Islamist extremists have also carried out several violent attacks in Germany in recent years, the deadliest of which was a truck carnage at a Christmas market in Berlin in December 2016 that killed 12 people.

In another case, an extremist and his wife were jailed in 2020 for planning a biological attack in Germany with the deadly poison ricin.