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Poland detains man suspected of planning Islamist bomb attack

14.07.2023 10:30
Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) has detained an 18-year-old man suspected of plotting an Islamist terrorist attack on a government building, officials said on Friday.
Photo:
Photo:PAP/Darek Delmanowicz

The man was detained in southwestern Poland on June 16, state news agency PAP reported.

The suspect had collected "products and information" to make a suicide explosive belt, according to officials.

The ABW said in a statement: "The detained citizen of the Republic of Poland was charged with participation in an organised criminal group aimed at committing a terrorist crime. The man was also charged with planning, using explosives, to carry out an event threatening the life or health of many people or property of great size."

According to the ABW, the suspect converted to Islam late last year and "his role models were terror leaders such as Osama bin Laden." 

The detained man had been plotting a bomb attack on a government building with a group claiming to represent the Islamic State terrorist organisation (ISIS), the PAP news agency reported.

The suspect will be remanded in pre-trial detention for three months and faces between a year and 10 years in prison, the ABW said. 

Stanisław Żaryn, a deputy minister for security services, said the arrest was “a big success” for the country’s internal security agency.

Żaryn told reporters: “Thanks to effective action by the ABW, we have managed to neutralise the threat.”

He added: “This case is a reminder that Poland is under threat from Islamist terrorism.”

(pm/gs)

Source: IAR, PAP, Reuters, gov.pl