Al Jazeera reported that German police searched a cathedral in the western city of Cologne on New Year’s Eve in response to threats of a potential attack. After the evening mass, sniffer dogs will be brought in to search the Cologne cathedral, according to Cologne police chief Michael Esser’s announcement on Saturday. “We are from this evening doing everything we can to ensure the safety of visitors of the cathedral on Christmas Eve, even though the information relates to New Year’s Eve,” a statement from Esser read. According to Al Jazeera, visitors will have to go through extensive security checks before they can enter the cathedral on Sunday.
According to the German newspaper Bild, the authorities in Germany, Austria and Spain have all received intelligence inputs of an Islamist group plotting attacks in Europe, with targets possibly including Christmas masses in Cologne, Vienna and Madrid.
On Saturday, special forces in Vienna and Germany arrested several suspects, Bild reported.
However, Al Jazeera could not independently confirm the arrests.
Meanwhile, Austrian police stated that they were boosting security for churches and Christmas markets due to the heightened state of alert, reported Al Jazeera.