Germany Arrests Syrian National Over Plot to Kill Soldiers

07 September 2024, Saxony-Anhalt, Schierke: A Bundeswehr helicopter flies to fight the forest fire in the Koenigsberg. Photo: Matthias Bein/dpa
07 September 2024, Saxony-Anhalt, Schierke: A Bundeswehr helicopter flies to fight the forest fire in the Koenigsberg. Photo: Matthias Bein/dpa
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Germany Arrests Syrian National Over Plot to Kill Soldiers

07 September 2024, Saxony-Anhalt, Schierke: A Bundeswehr helicopter flies to fight the forest fire in the Koenigsberg. Photo: Matthias Bein/dpa
07 September 2024, Saxony-Anhalt, Schierke: A Bundeswehr helicopter flies to fight the forest fire in the Koenigsberg. Photo: Matthias Bein/dpa

A 27-year-old Syrian national suspected of extremism has been arrested over a plot to kill German soldiers with machetes in the Bavarian town of Hof, prosecutors said on Friday.
The accused obtained two machetes approximately 40 cm (15.75 inches) long. He planned to attack Bundeswehr soldiers in Hof who were spending their lunch break there, and to kill as many of them as possible, a statement said.
"With the act, the accused wanted to attract attention and create a feeling of uncertainty among the population," Reuters quoted it as saying.
Germany is tightening border controls after recent deadly knife attacks in which the suspects were asylum seekers.
ISIS claimed responsibility for a knife attack in the western city of Solingen that killed three people in August.
Immigration and security concerns have shot up the agenda ahead of elections in the state of Brandenburg, where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is polling strongly.



Russia Hits Civilian and Critical Infrastructure, Injures 10 in Ukraine

A woman stands in the backyard of her house destroyed by a Russian airstrike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine October 10, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
A woman stands in the backyard of her house destroyed by a Russian airstrike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine October 10, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
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Russia Hits Civilian and Critical Infrastructure, Injures 10 in Ukraine

A woman stands in the backyard of her house destroyed by a Russian airstrike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine October 10, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
A woman stands in the backyard of her house destroyed by a Russian airstrike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine October 10, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer

Attacks by Russian forces on Ukraine overnight and on Thursday across the country hit civilian and critical infrastructure facilities, injuring at least 10 people, Ukrainian authorities said.
Russia launched two ballistic missiles on the southern city of Mykolaiv in the early afternoon, targeting critical infrastructure, regional Governor Vitaliy Kim said.
Two people were wounded and a piece of equipment destroyed, he said in televised comments, without giving more details.
Russian troops also shelled Kherson and damaged energy equipment, according to Roman Mrochko, head of the southern city's military administration. Several settlements and part of the city were facing power outages, he said.
Separately, a flurry of Russian guided bombs early in the morning injured six people, including a 17-year-old girl, and damaged 29 buildings in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, its regional governor Ivan Fedorov, said.
Ukraine's air force said on the Telegram messaging app that it had downed 41 out of 62 drones launched by Russia. Russian forces also launched eight missiles, it added, while 14 drones were "locationally lost".
"As a result of the Russian missile and drone attacks civilian objects and critical infrastructure facilities in the Odesa, Poltava and Donetsk regions were hit," Reuters quoted it as saying.
A drone attack on the central city of Kryvyi Rih injured two people and damaged a five-storey residential building, causing a fire, Dnipropetrovsk region governor, Serhiy Lysak, said.
The emergency services rescued seven people from the damaged part of the building and put out the fire at the site, he added.
Separately, a cruise missile attack late on Wednesday damaged a storage area at an infrastructure facility in the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv, causing a blaze that was later extinguished, the governor said.
Regional authorities also reported late on Wednesday that a ballistic missile attack had hit port infrastructure in the Odesa region, killing eight people and damaging a Panama-flagged container ship.