Christchurch-style attack prevented in Germany, police say

German police have jailed a 21-year-old believed to be a conservative extremist who was preparing an attack on a mosque, much like 2019's lethal shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand where 51 people were killed.

The suspect, from Hildesheim, a town in northern Germany, was jailed on Saturday, the district attorney's office stated. Law enforcement located the the man after he exposed his plot "in an anonymous internet chat."

The suspect had allegedly been considering to carry out an attack in which he planned to kill numerous people in an effort to attract worldwide media attention, the district attorney stated.

"His aim was to kill Muslims," the district attorneys pointed out.

The man now faces charges of threatening to commit criminal offences and financing terrorism through the purchase of firearms, considering unspecified weapons allegedly intended to be used in the attack, as well as digital files of right-wing extremist content were discovered at his home.

German national media reported that Hildesheim District Court initially rejected the application for the arrest warrant and the man was detained only after the General Prosecutor's Office directed the judge in the nearby town of Luneburg to do so.

(CGTN)