Security forces boarded the Amsterdam-bound plane Friday morning and took the 23-year-old Somali and the 24-year-old German citizen of Somali origin into custody.
The two men were detained Saturday evening, Bonn prosecutor Friedrich Apostel told AFP, saying they were “planning an imminent attack.” A police spokesman said the terror suspects wanted “to carry out holy war,” and that police found “a number of goodbye letters” referring to the attack in their apartment.
Two German newspapers cited unnamed security sources as saying the men wanted to fly to Pakistan via Amsterdam and Uganda. The internet version of the Bild newspaper quoted an airport spokesman as saying the men were unarmed when they were arrested.