Germany forced to cancel Holland friendly

A train on its way to southern Germany was also stopped at Hanover station with police removing a suspicious package before giving the all-clear for the train to continue its journey.

However, asked if his country should cancel large public events in light of the threat, Maassen said: “No, I would not recommend that at all”. It has been destroyed in a controlled explosion.

Another site in Hanover was also evacuated by police on Tuesday.

Thousands of fans were evacuated, without signs of panic, from Hanover’s HDI Arena, as hundreds of police, a few on horseback, secured the area.

“We have concrete information that someone wanted to ignite explosives in the stadium”, Hannover’s police chief Volker Kluwe told German press agency DPA.

The head of the federal police, Holger Muench, warned that the ranks of potential Islamist attackers are growing, posing an increasingly hard challenge to German security.

“It’s certainly unusual that such a person would have been faithfully registered in Greece and Serbia and Croatia, while we’re constantly pressing for registration and aren’t happy that it isn’t happening to the necessary extent”, de Maiziere said.

Security was extremely tight for the evening, with special forces and anti-terrorist units on site as a precaution towards the bomb threat. In a show of solidarity, Merkel was set to attend with Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel and several government ministers.

Police also evacuated Hanover’s TUI multi-purpose arena where a concert was about to start.

She thanked citizens, fans and the two national teams for their understanding when the match was scrapped after what police said was a bomb threat, and expressed gratitude to security services for working to keep the public safe.

“If IS can hit us, if IS can carry out terror attacks in Germany, it will do so – that is our big concern”, Maassen said in an interview with broadcaster ARD.

The match was due to be played just four days after suicide bombers targeted the Paris soccer stadium where Germany were playing France. The German team had on Friday spent the night in the Stade de France north of Paris following their friendly against France. “There was a lot of fear and anxiety in the dressing room that night”.

The spooks told German authorities that the terrorists might strike using an explosives-laden vehicle with official access to the football stadium, such as an ambulance, TV crew van or security patrol auto, reports Die Welt. No explosives were found in the building.

Two men arrested in Belgium, meanwhile, admitted driving to France to pick up Salah Abdeslam early Saturday, but denied any involvement in the attacks, their lawyers said. All have now been released.