On Sunday, German authorities announced that three people were arrested in connection with an alleged plot to use a car bomb to destroy the Cologne Cathedral. No further information about the identities of the suspects were made public.
The arrests come after a 30-year-old Tajik national was taken into custody on Dec. 24 for suspicion of being part of the plot.
The attack on the 800-year-old church was reportedly planned to take place on New Year’s Eve.
According to the Cologne Police Chief, Johannes Hermanns, all four individuals were members of a European-wide Islamic State network from Central Asia.
Hermanns also told reporters that around 1,000 police officers will be deployed for the New Year Celebration to, “protect the cathedral and the population in Cologne city center.”
Germany has been on a high state of alert since the Oct. 7 invasion of southern Israel by Hamas terrorists. Many in the nation’s growing Muslim population have expressed support for the Gaza based organization’s massacre of Israeli civilians, and the subsequent war.
On Saturday, police in Berlin banned a pro-Palestinian rally scheduled for New Year’s Eve, as many similar demonstrations have advocated for the destruction of Israel and violence against Jewish persons.
Related Story: Pro-Palestinian Protestors Shout “Death to Jews… Death to Israel” in Berlin
