German interior minister warns of increased attack threat

Germany's Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has warned of possible attacks on German soil, saying the country was in a "high-threat situation," reported dpa.

"The increased reporting and intelligence picture prompted me to upgrade the previously formulated abstract threat situation to a high-threat situation," the conservative politician told the Sunday edition of the Welt newspaper.

"This means that in Germany, the risk of attacks must be expected at any time," he said. Plans for attacks against Germany were "clearly recognizable," he said.

Dobrindt had previously indicated that he would upgrade the threat level at an interior ministers' conference a month ago.

He justified the assessment with a significantly higher volume of intelligence, both from allied intelligence services and from their own findings, more concrete incidents of damage and stronger networking of agents in Germany and abroad who were planning espionage and sabotage.