Two arrested in Germany over mall terror attack plot

Police have arrested two brothers on suspicion of planning to attack one of Germany's biggest shopping centres, authorities said Friday, four days after a terror attack killed 12 people at a Berlin Christmas market.

Police said they had arrested two men, aged 28 and 31, originally from Kosovo, and were trying to establish how advanced the plot was and whether other people were involved.

Acting on a tip-off from the intelligence services, plainclothes police were deployed to the shopping complex and a nearby Christmas market late on Thursday, police said in a statement.

The mall that was targeted, CentrO, is one of the largest in Germany with around 250 shops. It is located in the centre in Oberhausen near the Dutch border.

Germany has been on high alert after Monday's attack in Berlin when an assailant, suspected to be a Tunisian man, ploughed a truck through crowds packing one of the city’s most popular Christmas markets.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for that assault.

Police commandos on Thursday raided three homes and a long-distance bus, prosecutors said, as they cast a wide dragnet for 24-year-old Anis Amri.

Police say they are certain it was Amri who steered the 40-tonne lorry after finding his identity papers and fingerprints inside the cab, next to the corpse of its registered Polish driver who was killed with a gunshot to the head.

Authorities have issued a Europe-wide wanted notice over the attack, offering a €100,000 reward for information leading to Amri's arrest.

There is no indication so far that Friday's arrests are linked to the Berlin attack.