German officials say arrest foiled planned Islamist attack

BERLIN (AP) — German security officials said Friday that they have a foiled a planned Islamist attack, after arresting a man in the northern city of Hamburg over the summer who had been trying to buy weapons and make explosives. German news agency dpa reported that Hamburg’s top security official described the incident as “very, very serious.” Authorities said the 20-year-old German-Moroccan citizen, whose name wasn’t released, was taken into custody in August after trying to buy a firearm and a hand grenade online. Officers searching his parents’ apartment following his arrest found Islamist propaganda videos and bomb-making instructions. A separate search at a cousin’s home last month uncovered substances used to make explosives and several hundred metal nuts and screws.