BERLIN - Five suspects have been arrested on suspicion of plotting an attack on a Christmas market in southern Germany, local police and authorities said on Saturday.

The suspects include one Egyptian, one Syrian and three Moroccans, according to a joint statement released by the local police, the Munich Public Prosecutor General's Office and the Bavarian Central Office for Combating Extremism and Terrorism.

Formal arrest warrants were issued for four of the men, while the fifth has been placed in preventive custody, said the statement.

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Prosecutors currently suspect an Islamist motive behind the planned attack, which was allegedly to be carried out using a vehicle.

The Egyptian suspect had allegedly called for an attack at a mosque in the southern state of Bavaria during the 2025 Christmas season, urging the use of a vehicle to ram a Christmas market in order to "kill or injure as many people as possible." Further details remain undisclosed due to ongoing investigations, added the statement.