German authorities have arrested a Syrian migrant suspected of trying to obtain funds from the Islamic State for a devastating truck terror attack.
The arrest follows an attack successfully carried out two weeks ago by Tunisian refugee Anis Amri, who drove a truck through a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 and injuring 49 others, Reuters reports.
The unnamed 38-year-old Syrian migrant in this case was apparently trying to solicit funds from ISIS to support the attack, which involved purchasing between 880-1,1100 pounds of explosives and loading them up in a truck.
“He is suspected of … requesting 180,000 euros from a contact person in Syria on his cell phone from Saarbruecken in December, 2016 so that he could acquire vehicles to pack with explosives and drive them into a crowd,” German Prosecutor Christoph Rebmann said in a statement.
So far, the Syrian has confessed to establishing contact with ISIS, but told authorities that he simply wanted to scam the terror group out of funds, so he could support his family back home in Syria.
According to authorities, the Syrian was trying to solicit $189,000 dollars to pull off the terror attack.
This unidentified migrant first entered Germany in December 2014, coming in advance of the massive onslaught of migrants from North Africa and the Middle East who started pouring into Germany in 2015.
The German government granted him permission to stay in the country on Jan. 12, 2015.
Recent events have given renewed energy to heated criticism of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who approved the policy of opening the borders to asylum seekers.
In a statement following the Berlin truck terror attack, Merkel said she was horrified and saddened by the deaths and said the full force of the law would be brought down on the attacker.
“This is a very difficult day,” Merkel said. “Like millions of people in Germany, I am horrified, shocked and deeply saddened by what happened yesterday evening on Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz.”
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