Germany Foils Miniature Drone Terrorist Attacks

Suspects believed to be planning "radical Islamist explosive attacks using remote controlled airplanes"

From Spiegel:  German officials on Tuesday targeted two men suspected of planning to carry out terrorist attacks using remote-controlled model airplanes. The pair is thought to be influenced by radical Islam, but are not considered to be members of a terror group.

German police searched several apartments in three different states on Tuesday in conjunction with authorities in Belgium in a broad raid aimed at an alleged plot to used remote control model airplanes to carry out terrorist attacks.

The raids began at 4 a.m. local time in the German states of Bavaria, Baden-Wurttemberg and Saxony. Authorities said in a statement that the investigation is focusing on two men of Tunisian origin. They are suspected of having sought to acquire information and equipment necessary to carry out "radical Islamist explosive attacks using remote controlled airplanes," according to a statement on the website of Germany’s Federal Public Prosecutors’ Office. . . .

German security officials had long been aware of the possibility that extremists might attempt to mount an attack using remote controlled aircraft. Last fall, a man in the United States was sentenced to 17 years in prison for planning to fly explosives into the Pentagon and the US Capitol using remote controlled aircraft.

From Jeevan Vasagar, Telegraph:  Two of the suspected plotters were students in the aeronautics department at the University of Stuttgart, who were developing systems for using GPS to guide pilotless aircraft, according to the German public broadcaster SWR.

Police raids also targeted the homes of four of the men’s acquaintances, who are being investigated on suspicion of financing militant jihad. One acquaintance of the suspected plotters is under investigation for money laundering. No arrests have been made, authorities said.  (photo: DPA)  (via Peter Singer)

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