Munich police warn of ‘imminent threat’ of terror attack, evacuate train stations

Authorities in Germany warned that Islamic State backed terrorists were planning a rerun of the Paris attacks at the New Year’s Eve celebrations in Munich.

The German wire service DPA cited Munich police president Hubertus Andrae as saying that an unspecified foreign intelligence service told German authorities that an attack was planned for Bavaria’s capital using five to seven suicide bombers.

Early on Friday German time, Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said the Islamic State was behind the plan.

Less than two hours before Germany rang in the New Year, Munich police are warned of an “imminent threat” of a terror attack, ordered two train stations evacuated, and asked residents to avoid crowds.

According to the department’s Facebook page, the Munich police department said that “due to existing information which we take highly seriously, there is an attack planned tonight.”

The two stations in question, according to NBC News and Germany’s DPA wire service, are the city’s central Hauptbahnhof hub and the station in its Pasing neighborhood.

But according to Mr. Andrae, speaking after the New Year had begun, no arrests had yet been made.

Police told ABC News that the department called in officers who weren’t planned to be on duty for New Year’s Eve. Those police “are now performing sweeps of the stations. Police have not yet found anything suspicious.”

Service was halted at both stations and Munich residents were advised against using the trains at all. Other stations also were being searched.

According to a German demographics report linked from the Wikipedia article on the city, Munich, Germany’s third-largest city and the home of 1.4 million people, is one of the country’s top destinations for foreigners and refugees. About 37 percent of the city’s population is of international background.