Germany: 12yo Iraqi Boy Tried to Bomb Christmas Market Twice

German media reported on Friday that a 12-year-old boy was suspected of planning two different bomb attacks in the western German city of Ludwigshafen. The German magazine "Focus" said he had first tried to target a Christmas market at the end of November, before placing a backpack with explosives near a high-rise building containing both city hall and a shopping center.

Hubert Ströber, a state prosecutor for nearby Frankenthal, confirmed reports that jars containing flammable material had been found in two locations in Ludwigshafen. However, he told DW that his office is "not investigating further" because the German criminal code exempts him from prosecution as a juvenile under 14 years of age. He added, however, that he had informed the Federal Prosecutor's Office of the case.

Ludwigshafen Mayor Eva Lohse said on Thursday at a press conference that the Federal Prosecutor's Office had issued a gagging order on further information about the case. Lohse did, however, say the 12-year-old suspect was in a safe location.

According to judicial and police sources, the boy was born in 2004 in Ludwigshafen to parents from a German-Iraqi background. The boy had been "heavily religiously radicalized," by an unknown agent of the so-called terrorist organization "Islamic State" (IS) said "Focus" magazine.

The report claimed that the first attempted attack came on November 26 at the city's Christmas market. There was no blast, however, as whatever the boy had allegedly used failed to detonate - the magazine was unable to confirm exactly what materials had been used to make the bomb.

A 12-year-old boy may have been sent by the Islamic State when he planned an attack on the Christmas market in Ludwigshafen. The State Attorney and the State Prosecutor have already begun investigations.

A 12-year-old German-Iraqi apparently tried to carry out a nail bomb attack on the Christmas market in Ludwigshafen at the Rhine. Focus reports this in its latest edition, referring to legal and security authorities. According to the investigators, the “highly religiously radicalized” boy might have been “incited or instructed” by an “unknown member” of the terror militia Islamic State (IS). Only because the charger did not ignite was there no detonation.

According to Focus Information, the Federal Attorney in Karlsruhe is investigating on the grounds of a suspicion of a “severe subversive act of violence”. Parallel to that, the State Prosecutor in Frankenthal is leading the investigation of the boy, who was born in 2004 in Ludwigshafen. It is expected that the investigation will soon be closed, because the alleged perpetrator is under the age of criminal responsibility.

Boy wanted to join ISIS in Syria

According to Focus, the boy placed a backpack with a self-made charger in a bush near the town hall. A few days previously, on November 26, he had, according to Focus, attempted to ignite the bomb at the Christmas market. In the backpack was a can with a hole drilled in it, and a wire leading through the hole. It was filled with explosive material. The outside was sealed with tape and packed with nails.

After an alert passer-by informed the police about the backpack, specialists detonated part of the volatile compound. According to Focus Information, back in the summer of 2016 the boy entertained the idea of going to Syria to join ISIS. After his arrest in Ludwigshafen, the 12-year-old was placed in a juvenile shelter.