On 31 July 2006, two men placed two suitcases filled with bombs on regional commuter trains in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Departing from the central station in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, the bombs were timed to go off near

Hamm Hamm (, Latin: ''Hammona'') is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northeastern part of the Ruhr area. As of 2016 its population was 179,397. The city is situated between the A1 motorway and A2 motorway. Hamm railwa ...

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

and near

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

, and according to German investigators "would have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people ... on a much larger scale than the terrorist attacks on London subways and buses in July 2005."Suspects in Attempted Bombings Face Prison for Life

Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service con ...

, October 22, 2006 However, due to faulty construction, the bombs only failed to ignite, even as the

detonator A detonator, frequently a blasting cap, is a device used to trigger an explosive device. Detonators can be chemically, mechanically, or electrically initiated, the last two being the most common. The commercial use of explosives uses electri ...

s worked. According to the German prosecutor, at the time Germany had "never been closer to an

Islamist attack Islamic terrorism (also known as Islamist terrorism or radical Islamic terrorism) refers to terrorist acts with religious motivations carried out by fundamentalist militant Islamists and Islamic extremists. Incidents and fatalities fr ...

than in this case." German investigators suspected a

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

organisation was behind the plot. Investigations found two Lebanese men to have been behind the attempted bombings. Jihad Hamad, who had fled to

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

after the attempted attacks was sentenced to twelve years in prison in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

in 2007. Youssef Mohamad el-Hajdib, arrested in

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

on 19 August, was in 2008 sentenced to life in prison in Germany for the attempted bombings. There remained suspicions of involvement by the brother of one of the convicted men, Saddam el-Hajdib, a high-ranking member of

Fatah al-Islam Fatah al-Islam ( ar, فتح الإسلام, meaning: ''Conquest of Islam'') is a radical Sunni Islamist group that formed in November 2006 in a Palestinian refugee camp, located in Lebanon. It has been described as a militant jihadistLe Figaro ...

who was killed in fighting with the Lebanese Army before he could be tried in court. Europol classified the attack as Islamic terrorism in a 2007 report.

Suspects

Youssef Mohamad El Hajdib

El Hajdib, aged 21, was arrested at Kiel's central train station on 19 August 2006. There were reports two weeks later in connection with the

Vollsmose terrorist trial The Vollsmose terrorists were three men convicted of attempted terrorism in Denmark in 2007–2008. Nine men were initially arrested by Danish police in the Vollsmose neighbourhood of Odense on 5 September 2006, but most were later released withou ...

that he was trying to travel to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

and that he had Odense

imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

Abu Bashar Abu Bashar (born Mohamad Al-Khaled Samha in 1958) is a Syrian-born imam of the mosque of The Islamic Society in Denmark in Odense, Denmark. He was involved in protests against the ''Jyllands-Posten'' cartoons of Muhammad and in the Vollsmose terro ...

's telephone in his pocket. Bashar denied knowing El Hajdib.9 arrested by Denmark in reported terror plot

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be said ...

, September 5, 2006 On 9 December 2008 El Hajdib was sentenced to life in prison by a German court for

attempted murder Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions. Canada Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seven ye ...

and the attempt to cause an explosion. After serving his sentence, he will be deported to Egypt. In 2020 El Hajdib was extradited to Lebanon. https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/kofferbomber-koeln-abschiebung-101.html

Jihad Hamad

Hamad, aged 20, fled to Lebanon after the failed attack and tried to hide with his family. He turned himself to Lebanese authorities in Beirut a few days after El Hajdib was arrested. His family lives in Al-Kobbe,

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

. In his youth Jihad went to a Christian school. Jihad came to

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

to live with his uncle, study and work. Jihad confessed to depositing the luggage on the trains but claimed he was unaware it was a bomb. He also said El Hajdib and he had researched on the internet how to prepare attacks which would cause increased suffering. Hamad told Lebanese interrogators that El Hajdib saw the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy as an attack by the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

on Islam.Prophet drawings motivated by suspects behind failed German train bombings, investigator says

, September 2, 2006 Further motivation was the killing of

Al-Qaeda in Iraq Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI; ar, القاعدة في العراق, al-Qā'idah fī al-ʿIrāq) or Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia ( ar, القاعدة في بلاد الرافدين, al-Qā'idah fī Bilād ar-Rāfidayn), officially known as ''Tanzim Qaidat a ...

leader

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Abu Musab al-Zarqawi ( ar, أَبُو مُصْعَبٍ ٱلزَّرْقَاوِيُّ, ', ''Father of Musab, from Zarqa''; ; October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), born Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal al-Khalayleh (, '), was a Jordanian jihadist who ran a t ...

on 7 June 2006 by

US forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

. Hamad and El Hajdib lived together in Cologne. Hamad was sentenced in December 2007 to twelve years in prison with hard labour in Beirut.

Other suspects

*Saddam el-Hajdib - brother of Youssef Mohamad El Hajdib, and a high-ranking member of the Fatah al-Islam group, was suspected of helping plan a serious attack. He was killed in fighting between Fatah al-Islam and the Lebanese Armed Forces in May 2007.Suspect in German Bomb Plot Killed in Lebanon Fighting

, May 22, 2007 *Ayman Hawa, 20 - from Akkar, arrested on 28 August 2006 by Lebanese authorities.Lebanon arrests fourth suspect in German bomb case
,

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

, September 2, 2006 *Khaled Khair-Eddin el-Hajdib - arrested in Lebanon by authorities. *Khalil al-Boubou - arrested in Lebanon by authorities.

Bombs and evidence

The plans for the bombs were taken from the internet. The suspects diverged at a few points and it was there that technical mistakes were made. The devices cost about 200-300

Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

to build. The bombs were made from

propane Propane () is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used a ...

barbecue canisters to be triggered with

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...

and makeshift detonators. The detonators went off, but failed to ignite the gas.Train Bombing Plot Surprises Germany

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

According to German security services the attacks were originally planned for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

, several weeks earlier, but the suspects abandoned the plan when they considered the implications of such an attack. A search of the suspects' apartment found DNA matching that on the suitcases and receipts for the gas canister and gas. Surveillance cameras caught both suspects carrying wheeled baggage onto the train at Cologne.

References

External links

Terrorism in Germany: Every Investigator's Nightmare
in Spiegel Magazine {{DEFAULTSORT:German train bombing attempts, 2006 2006 train bombing attempts 2000s in North Rhine-Westphalia 2000s in Cologne Crime in Cologne 2006 train bombing attempts 2006 train bombing attempts Islamic terrorist incidents in 2006 July 2006 crimes July 2006 events in Europe 2006 train bombing attempts Terrorist incidents in North Rhine-Westphalia