Germany: Terror Threat Is on the Rise

1St Lt. Nikolai Schwann a German ISAF soldier, walks along during a patrol on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan ins this Oct. 8, 2003 file photo. Germany has increased its security measures, officials said Friday June 22, 2007, amid intelligence reports suggesting increased threat of attack against the country's personnel in Afghanistan or even suicide bombings in Germany itself. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel) (Richard Vogel - AP)

BERLIN -- The threat of a terrorist attack against Germans in Afghanistan _ or even suicide bombings in Germany itself _ appears to be on the rise in recent days, officials said Friday.

German officials compared the current situation to that before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, citing a "mosaic" of clues and previous attacks. Germany has some 3,000 troops and several reconnaissance jets as part of the international security force in Afghanistan.

Three German Islamic radicals, believed to be part of a group of 10 people trained to carry out suicide bombings, were arrested in Pakistan, said Joerg Ziercke, head of the Federal Crime Office, the German equivalent of the FBI. He gave few details of the arrests but said the suspects were young Germans who had converted to Islam. However, a Pakistani official said one was Kazakh.

"There are indications that terrorist structures in the region of Afghanistan and Pakistan have gained strength and are capable of acting," Christian-Guenter Sachs, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said at a news conference. "We have information that persons from Europe, from Germany, are involved in these structures."

A senior Pakistani government official said two Germans and a Kazakh were recently arrested near the Iranian border on suspicion of involvement in terrorism.

"The government of Pakistan has already shared its investigation with Germany, and of course, these men were suspected terrorists," the official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.

"We got some useful information" from the men, the official said, without elaborating.

Sachs said the situation is reminiscent "of the early summer of 2001."

"There are increasing pieces of information, from our own services, from friendly services, indications from the Pakistan-Afghanistan region which permit conclusions that the danger level, as I have also laid out, is high for German interests," he said. "There is also a dangerous dimension, for example from suicide attackers, in the direction of Germany."

Security authorities are "at an increased state of vigilance," he said, declining to provide details of the actual measures. German officials have said security has been tightened around U.S. military bases and the U.S. Embassy has advised citizens to exercise added caution.

Ziercke cited a video apparently showing a Taliban graduation ceremony for recruits, broadcast by ABC News this week, that contained threats against Germany, the U.S., Britain and Canada. He said that was "a new quality of threat" and said border controls had been tightened.

German officials also cited an attack Saturday on a convoy outside Kabul that included vehicles from the German Embassy, in which no one was hurt.

They also pointed to the bombing of a police academy bus in Kabul Sunday that killed at least 35 people _ the same day the European Union took over a police training mission from Germany.

Three of the suicide pilots in the Sept. 11 attacks, including ringleader Mohamed Atta, lived and studied in Germany.

But Germany, which did not send troops to Iraq, has largely been spared terrorist attacks itself _ although its involvement in the attempt to stabilize Afghanistan against Islamic insurgents has led to fears it may be targeted.

In July 2006 two gas bombs were placed on commuter trains but did not explode in an attempt security officials said was motivated by anger over cartoons portraying the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper. Several suspects are on trial in Lebanon, and a Lebanese man has been charged in Germany.

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Associated Press writer Munir Ahmad contributed to this report from Islamabad, Pakistan.