On 16 December 2016, a bombing plot was uncovered in

Ludwigshafen Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it form ...

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 ...

. The 12-year-old German-

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

i boy, who was reported to be the perpetrator, was directed by an ISIL supporter to build two

nail bomb A nail bomb is an anti-personnel explosive device containing nails to increase its effectiveness at harming victims. The nails act as shrapnel, leading almost certainly to more injury in inhabited areas than the explosives alone would. A nail ...

s and plant them at the local Christmas market and near a shopping centre.

Incidents

After a first attempt failed at the Christmas market on 26 November when the bomb did not explode, the boy tried a second time on 5 December near the mall and the town hall of Ludwigshafen He was reported to have been radicalised or instructed by an unidentified ISIS member. The German federal prosecutor declined to comment on the ISIS stories and announced an investigation into his motives. The device contained “pyrotechnic material” believed to have been extracted from fireworks and sparklers and tests revealed that the mix was combustible, but not explosive.Isis directs 12-year-old boy to attempt bombing of German Christmas market
Independent.co.uk, 16 December 2016 The state youth welfare office took charge of the boy.

Suspect

The suspect was born in Ludwigshafen. His name was not released because of German privacy laws; German law also does not allow criminal prosecution of those younger than 14. The suspect had contemplated traveling to

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

in mid-2016 to join the Islamic State.

Investigation and trial

On 13 April 2018, an

Islamic State An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

supporter was sentenced in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

to nine years in prison for instigating the crime and for planning another attack on the US airbase in Ramstein, Germany along with a 15-year-old girl married to him under Islamic law. During the trial, the suspect of the Ludwigshafen bombing, now 14 years old, emphasized that the bombing was his own idea. The bombing only failed because the fuse cord was insufficient.Islamist muss neun Jahre in Haft
Frankfurter Allgemeine

Reactions

Steffen Seibert Steffen Rüdiger Seibert (born 7 June 1960 in Munich) is a German journalist who served as head of the German Federal Government's Press and Information Office and as the German government's spokesperson from 2010 to 2021. During his tenure, Seib ...

, a spokesman for the German government, said: "This is certainly a report that scares everyone."Zwölfjähriger plante offenbar Anschlag in Ludwigshafen
Reuters.com, 16 December 2016, in German *

Peter Altmaier Peter Altmaier (born 18 June 1958) is a German lawyer and CDU politician who served as Acting Minister of Finance from 2017 to 2018 and as Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy from 2018 to 2021. He previously served as Federal Mi ...

, The German minister of the chancellery, said that the authorities were "sensitized". They had to investigate whether the child was radicalised at home or through the internet.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludwigshafen attempted bombings, 2016 21st century in Rhineland-Palatinate Crime in Rhineland-Palatinate Failed terrorist attempts in Germany 2016 attempted bombings Islamist attack plots and attacks on Christmas markets

Incidents

Suspect

Investigation and trial

Reactions

See also

References