ABW busts terrorist bomb and gun attack against Muslims
Poland’s Internal Security Service (ABW) has arrested two people suspected of preparing bomb and gun attacks against Muslims.
The two men believed to be part of an extremist group were seized by ABW officers in Warsaw and Szczecin following an undercover operation.
The arrests are the result of an intelligence-gathering exercise by the ABW about an extremist group whose aim was to terrorise people of the Muslim faith in Poland.
ABW spokesman Stanislaw Zaryn said the detentions "were an effect of information gathered on an extremist group whose aim was to intimidate Muslims living in Poland.
“The arrests are the result of an intelligence-gathering exercise by the ABW about an extremist group whose aim was to terrorise people” of the Muslim faith in Poland.
The group's plans were modelled on terrorist attacks carried out, among others by Brenton Tarrant in New Zealand.
“These are the first two arrests of members of this group, which was preparing acts of violence in Poland.”
He added that the group's plans were modelled on terrorist attacks carried out, among others, by Anders Breivik in Norway in 2011, Brenton Tarrant in New Zealand this year and Philip Manhaus in Norway in 2019.
ABW spokesman Stanislaw Zaryn said: “The arrests are the result of an intelligence-gathering exercise by the ABW about an extremist group whose aim was to terrorise people” of the Muslim faith in Poland.
In addition to harassment and persecution, the group also planned "more radical actions with use of firearms and explosives,” he said.
ABW officers searching through a house in Warsaw found "substances and chemicals necessary for the production of large amounts of explosives as well as firearms, structural elements used for making weapons and ammunition," Zaryn said.
ABW officers searching through a house in Warsaw found "substances and chemicals necessary for the production of large amounts of explosives as well as firearms, structural elements used for making weapons and ammunition," Zaryn said.
The search also revealed eight vials of highly toxic chemicals, more than 170 books on the production of explosives, as well as electronic data carriers that could be used to maintain encrypted communication between group members.
The two men have been charged with preparing large-scale life-threatening attacks and publicly calling for the killing of members of ethnic and religious minorities, illegal possession of explosive precursors, firearms and ammunition and drug trafficking within the EU.
