Germany foils far-right terror plot

German police rounded up 12 men who were planning to attack mosques in 10 states. After months of tracking their movement, police arrested four men as suspected terrorists and eight others—including an administrative police clerk—as accomplices. Authorities searching their homes discovered a 9 mm pistol and ammunition, as well as homemade hand grenades, axes, and several knives.

What motivated the planned attacks? The massacre at two mosques in New Zealand that left 51 people dead in March 2019 inspired the men to form the group “Hard Core” last fall, German news outlet Der Spiegel reported. The men wanted to provoke revenge attacks that would eventually spiral into civil war, authorities said. They usually met at an old sawmill. German authorities are monitoring 53 people associated with far-right movements who are capable of carrying out attacks.

Dig deeper: Read Mindy Belz’s report in Globe Trot on the New Zealand mosque attack.