Saxony: Police find nine more homemade explosive devices

Police in Saxony have found nine more homemade explosive devices as investigators widen their search for a man suspected of targeting Germany’s electricity network. Special forces defused the latest finds.

The discoveries follow attacks last Tuesday on substations near Jänschwalde in Brandenburg and Bergheim in North Rhine-Westphalia. Authorities later found further suspicious devices in Dormagen and Weisweiler. Police and network operators said the attackers fired pyrotechnic projectiles containing conductive material into high-voltage lines in an attempt to trigger short circuits. Launching devices were found nearby.

The attacks caused shutdowns in power-plant units in Bergheim and Jänschwalde, but the electricity supply itself was not endangered. Investigators are examining allegations including anti-constitutional sabotage. In Brandenburg, the inquiry also covers the formation of a terrorist organisation.

Police and prosecutors in Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia issued a joint appeal for information on Saturday, publishing two photographs of the 48-year-old suspect. A major operation took place on Sunday in the Hambach Forest near Cologne, but officers found no evidence of his presence there. Police had discovered explosives on Friday in the suspect’s apartment in Gevelsberg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Later, a special forces unit stormed a truck in a forest near Niederzier, around 100 kilometres away. The vehicle appeared to have been converted into a motorhome, but the wanted man was not there.