BERLIN, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- The German government has beefed up security at airports and train stations after it was tipped that al-Qaida militants plan to strike targets in Germany at the end of this month.
Police equipped with bulletproof vests, machine guns and sniffer dogs Thursday patrolled public hot spots all over Germany, including the major Munich and Berlin train stations as well as Frankfurt Airport, one of Europe's busiest air hubs.
They were dispatched after Germany's Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere on Wednesday had warned of an increased terror threat in the country.
"According to intelligence received from a foreign partner … an attack plan is to be carried out at the end of November," de Maiziere told a hastily convened news conference.
The warning comes less than three weeks after authorities detected parcel bombs from Yemen on a plane in Dubai and on another jet that had landed in Germany and Britain.
France and Britain have stepped up security since the United States in October warned of an increased threat from dozens of Europe-born al-Qaida insurgents who were trained in Pakistan and Afghanistan and have since returned to their home countries. U.S. drone attacks last week killed several insurgents, some of them born in Germany, but many militants are still at large.
UPI
