German authorities arrest five allegedly radical Muslims planning Christmas market attack

German authorities have arrested five allegedly radical Muslims suspected of planning an attack on a Christmas market, according to police and prosecutors.

In a joint statement, officials said that the attack was planned for a Christmas market in southern Bavaria, Reuters reported Sunday.

The five men detained on Friday were a 37-year-old Syrian, a 56-year-old Egyptian, and three Moroccan ​nationals aged 22, 28, ​and 30, according to ‍the joint statement late on Saturday. They were detained on Friday at the Suben border crossing between Germany and Austria.

German investigators believed that the men planned to ‍drive a ‍vehicle into a ​crowded market in the ​Dingolfing-Landau ⁠area to ‌kill or injure as many people as possible, and that they had an Islamist motive, the statement said.

Since an Islamist rammed a hijacked truck into a Christmas market in central Berlin in ​2016, there has been a ‌series of vehicle ramming ‌attacks in Germany. Last December, an attack ‍in Magdeburg resulted in several people being killed.