Danish teen planned to bomb schools: police
The Local Denmark - [email protected]
Published: 8 Mar, 2016 CET.
Updated: Tue 8 Mar 2016 11:05 CET
A 16-year-old Danish girl who was arrested in January and charged with the possession of explosives and supporting terror had plans to bomb two schools, police said on Tuesday.
Little had been known about the teen’s case since her arrest in the village of Kundby on the island of Zealand, as court appearances had been held behind so-called 'double-locked doors', meaning all information is withheld from the media and the public.
The girl has been described as a recent convert to Islam and one of her neighbours told the tabloid BT that her Facebook page indicated that she wanted to convert other Danes to the religion. TV2 also reported that the girl's profile page indicated that she was a member of Facebook group for ethnic Danish members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamic group that openly supports the establishment of a caliphate and that has been at the centre of numerous controversies in Denmark.
A 24-year-old man who has previously fought alongside extremists in Syria was also arrested and detained in January in connection to the case. The alleged jihadist was described as “a friend” of the teenage girl.
On Tuesday, prosecutors publicly released details on the case, saying that both the girl, who was only 15 at the time of her arrest, and the 24-year-old man plotted to bomb the Jewish private school Carolineskolen in Copenhagen and the Sydskolen public school in the western Zealand town of Fårevejle.
Mid and West Zealand Police and the Danish Security Intelligence Service (PET) released a joint statement saying that the targeted schools had been contacted.
“Due to security concerns, PET cannot say what security measures the case has given rise to, but PET can say that it has not given the schools recommendations to make any changes in or around the schools in question,” the statement read.
The case will remain behind closed doors as police and PET said that it cannot be ruled out that other people may have been involved in the bombing plots.
According to prosecutor Peter Ahleson, the two defendants attempted to make the explosive TATP (also known as acetone peroxide), which was used in the November Paris attacks, for their planned bombing of Carolineskolen. For their planned attack on Sydskolen, the pair reportedly attempted to create explosives out fertilizer, petrol, diesel and other chemicals.
Both the 16-year-old girl and the 24-year-old man maintain their innocence.
Comments
See Also
Little had been known about the teen’s case since her arrest in the village of Kundby on the island of Zealand, as court appearances had been held behind so-called 'double-locked doors', meaning all information is withheld from the media and the public.
The girl has been described as a recent convert to Islam and one of her neighbours told the tabloid BT that her Facebook page indicated that she wanted to convert other Danes to the religion. TV2 also reported that the girl's profile page indicated that she was a member of Facebook group for ethnic Danish members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamic group that openly supports the establishment of a caliphate and that has been at the centre of numerous controversies in Denmark.
A 24-year-old man who has previously fought alongside extremists in Syria was also arrested and detained in January in connection to the case. The alleged jihadist was described as “a friend” of the teenage girl.
On Tuesday, prosecutors publicly released details on the case, saying that both the girl, who was only 15 at the time of her arrest, and the 24-year-old man plotted to bomb the Jewish private school Carolineskolen in Copenhagen and the Sydskolen public school in the western Zealand town of Fårevejle.
Mid and West Zealand Police and the Danish Security Intelligence Service (PET) released a joint statement saying that the targeted schools had been contacted.
“Due to security concerns, PET cannot say what security measures the case has given rise to, but PET can say that it has not given the schools recommendations to make any changes in or around the schools in question,” the statement read.
The case will remain behind closed doors as police and PET said that it cannot be ruled out that other people may have been involved in the bombing plots.
According to prosecutor Peter Ahleson, the two defendants attempted to make the explosive TATP (also known as acetone peroxide), which was used in the November Paris attacks, for their planned bombing of Carolineskolen. For their planned attack on Sydskolen, the pair reportedly attempted to create explosives out fertilizer, petrol, diesel and other chemicals.
Both the 16-year-old girl and the 24-year-old man maintain their innocence.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.