Police in Munich warn of ‘imminent threat’ of attack

German law enforcement are hunting for as many as seven people feared to have been plotting suicide bombing attacks on train stations on New Year’s Eve.

Police officers, some in riot gear, were posted at different entrances of Munich’s main rail station which was eerily quiet on a night of traditionally raucous celebrations.

It was reported that one train station had been evacuated and trains would no longer stop there.

Bavaria’s interior minister said that Munich’s police headquarters had received information that the militant group Islamic State was behind the threat and was being taken very seriously by all authorities concerned.

Following last night’s terror warning for Munich, PEGIDA chairman Lutz Bachmann took to Twitter telling those who had welcomed refugees with applause at Munich’s main station to immediately convene there, leading to widespread outrage and indignation across social media.

On December 26, police in the Austrian capital Vienna said a “friendly” intelligence service had warned European capitals of the possibility of a shooting or bomb attack before New Year, and that police across the continent had stepped up security measures.

Munich police chief Hubertus Andrae said his force had some names which were being checked on police databases, but had no details of the suspects’ whereabouts.

154-a-16-(Sajjan Gohel (SAH’-zhahn GOH’-hehl), director for worldwide security, Asia Pacific Foundation, in AP interview)-“number of occasions”-Security analyst Sajjan Gohel says the terror threat in Munich comes as no surprise”.

The newspaper reported the plot involved plans for suicide bombers to detonate explosives at the stations, with others waiting to detonate secondary devices when emergency services arrived at the scene. “Please avoid crowds and train stations”.

But many revellers continued their planned celebrations.

Thousands of people in Munich welcomed 2016 with fireworks, despite warnings to stay away from large crowds.

French and USA intelligence agencies are said to have named seven Iraqis living in Munich as the potential attackers.

German police on Thursday evacuated Munich’s central railway station, as well as another station in Pasing, due to an imminent terror threat.

“We have concrete information that we can not sweep under the carpet”, Bild newspaper quoted a police spokesperson as saying.

People in Munich celebrated the arrival of the new year just as a terror warning was issued.

A few days after the Paris attack, a football stadium in Hannover in central Germany was evacuated after a threat against a friendly match between Germany and the Netherlands.