German cops hunt Syrian migrant, 22, who ‘had links to ISIS’ over planned airport bomb attack as town remains on lockdown
'Highly sensitive explosives' found in flat after armed cops swarm on town
A GERMAN city is on lockdown as armed police hunt a 22-year-old Syrian migrant suspected of planning a bomb attack at a German airport.
Police have made three "provisional arrests" since finding "highly sensitive explosives" in a flat earlier today, but suspect Jaber Albakr is still on the run with police warning "we do not know where he is or what he carries with him"
On Saturday night German media reported that Albakr has links to "ISIS extremists" but this has yet to be confirmed by the authorities.
Albakr, slipped through the fingers of security services, despite having been under surveillance, prompting cops to warn residents to stay off the streets.
In a tweet this afternoon Saxony Police said: "The search for the suspects running. Currently, however, we do not know where he is or what he carries with him. Be careful."
Earlier today scores of armed officers blew the door off a flat in and discovered "highly sensitive explosives" but not "a person of interest".
A controlled explosion was carried out but police have said further evacuations will be necessary to secure the area.
Police have swarmed the area hunting Albakr, from Damascus, who is believed to have entered the country last year.
Albakr is believed to have been under surveillance and is suspected of plotting an attack on a German airport, has reported.
Tom Bernhardt, spokesman for the state criminal police in Saxony said officers acted on intelligence received last night and that their actions have foiled a "serious threat".
He added: "We must assume that the person is dangerous."
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Mr Bernhardt said it was unclear if one or several suspects were involved and could not say whether the motivation for the planned attack was far-right or Islamist.
The luggage of two people provisionally arrested at the train station is being investigated by special forces while a third person is being interviewed after being provisionally arrested close to Chemnitz.
The station was closed while robots were used to investigate a red suitcase.
Families living in the block of flats told MDR Sachsen they were woken by police with machine guns telling them to leave the building and were removed from the area by bus.
On Saturday evening cops removed the outer cordon, allowing some residents back into their homes.
A spokesperson for Saxony Police said: "We are carrying out a large operation in Chemnitz following suspicion of preparations for a bomb attack.
"Major road closers and evacuations are necessary.
"Please stay within the cordoned-off areas in your homes and follow the instructions of police."
Police have asked local residents not to share pictures of their operation on social media.
Police had earlier tweeted: "At the moment we have a static threat situation in the Fritz-Heckert area in Chemnitz, C0810 and with strong forces on the ground."
Chemnitz is in the east German district of Fritz Heckert.
Germany had until the summer been spared the kind of militant attacks suffered by neighbouring France and Belgium.
But in late July, Islamic State claimed two attacks - on a train near Wuerzburg and at a music festival in Ansbach - in which asylum-seekers wounded 20 people in total.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's open immigration police has come under fire following the attacks.
German police said previously they had identified 523 people who posed a security threat to the country, around half of whom were known to be currently in Germany.
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