Boy Tried to Detonate Nail-Bomb at German Christmas Market
A 12-year-old boy failed, twice, to denote explosives in the southern German city of Ludwigshafen, local media reported.
A local magazine reported that the boy initially tried to set off a nail bomb at a Christmas market. When that didn’t work, he left explosives in a backpack near a building that houses a shopping center and government office nine days later. Nobody was injured in either incident, and police were able to destroy both bombs in controlled detonations.
Reports show that the boy was born in Germany but is of Iraqi decent. Authorities believe he had been “religiously radicalized,” possibly by someone who has ties to the Islamic State.
After the first incident, police did not investigate as the boy fell below the age of criminal responsibility in Germany.
The State Department has warned U.S. citizens in an alert last month that they “should exercise caution at holiday festivals, events and outdoor markets” throughout Europe during the holiday season because of the heightened risk of terrorist attacks.
The Christmas Market in Ludwigshafen has beefed up its security for the events this holiday season. Adding extra officers to patrol the market grounds as well as adding in concrete barriers to create a perimeter around the area. Officials say they are particularly worried about lone wolf attackers and attacks carried through with large vehicles like the incident on Bastille Day in Nice.