German law enforcement officers are investigating the third attempted terrorist attack against the country’s energy infrastructure in a week.
Near the town of Dormagen in North Rhine-Westphalia, a passer-by discovered launch devices for homemade rockets that were intended to damage power lines, Euronews reports.
Police seized the improvised launcher and explosives in time, so the electricity network was not affected. The design of the weapon found is similar to that used by the perpetrators during earlier attacks in Bergheim and Jänschwalde.
Investigators received a letter of confession in which the author described the devices in detail and confirmed an intention to harm the power system. The letter was signed with a full name and its author is currently the main suspect, although police have not ruled out the possibility of an impersonator.
Police are treating these incidents as a planned series of terrorist attacks. Because of the threat of further attacks, officers are deploying additional forces to protect the Weisweiler power station near Aachen.
According to the Interior Minister of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, investigators are pursuing two main lines of inquiry: sabotage directed by a foreign state or actions by radical left-wing groups.