German authorities have detained a Syrian man on suspicion of planning to carry out an explosives attack motivated by Islamic extremism, officials said Tuesday. Federal police said officers detained the 28-year-old man early Tuesday in the northern city of Hamburg. Investigators say the man is suspected of trying to obtain substances online that would have allowed him to manufacturer an explosive belt “in order to carry out an attack against civilian targets.” Police say the man was encouraged and supported in his action by his 24-year-old brother, who lives in the southern town of Kempten. The men, whose names weren't immediately released, are described as being motivated by “radical Islamist and jihadist” views. Authorities said they had no information indicating a concrete target for the planned attack. Police searched properties in Hamburg and Kempten, seizing large amounts of evidence including chemical substances, officials said. Some 250 officers were involved in the operation. Germany's top security official thanked police, saying their actions “have prevented possible Islamist attack plans.” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the case showed that the danger of Islamic extremism remained high and pledged that German security agencies would continue to take all information about such threats seriously. “Germany remains a direct target of Islamist terrorist organizations," she said. "Islamist-motivated lone perpetrators are another significant threat.”

Authorities in Bulgaria have detained seven people in connection with an abandoned truck in which 18 people believed to be migrants were found dead, police said Saturday. The bodies were discovered Friday in a secret compartment below a load of lumber in the truck, which was left on a highway not far from Bulgaria's capital, Sofia. Borislav Sarafov, director of Bulgaria's National Investigation Service, confirmed that all the victims had died of suffocation. He called the case the country's deadliest involving smuggled migrants. Police also found 34 survivors in the truck, most of them in very poor physical condition, Bulgarian Health Minister Assen Medzhidiev said. All the passengers originally were from Afghanistan and had entered Bulgaria from Turkey while hoping to reach Western Europe, authorities said. Sarafov said the people who died had perished 10 to 12 hours before the truck was found and that the smugglers had fled the scene after they noticed the deaths. The seven suspects were detained at different locations across Bulgaria. Investigators were working to determine if the truck's driver was among them. Also Read: Bodies of 18 migrants found in abandoned truck in Bulgaria The investigation indicates the suspects belonged to a organized crime ring involved in smuggling migrants from the border with Turkey to the Bulgaria-Serbia border, Sarafov said. Passengers paid 5,000-7,000 euros each, he said. Bulgaria, a Balkan country of 7 million and the poorest member of the European Union, is located on a major route for migrants from the Middle East and Afghanistan seeking to enter Europe from Turkey. Very few plan to stay, with most using Bulgaria as a transit corridor on their way westward. Bulgaria has erected a barbed-wire fence along its 259-kilometer (161-mile) border with Turkey, but with the help of local traffickers many migrants still manage to enter.

Twenty-two Bangladeshi fishermen were detained and their four trawlers were seized Saturday by members of the Myanmar Navy from the Bay of Bengal. Saint Martin Union Parishad Chairman Nur Ahmed said Myanmar Navy seized four of the trawlers owned by residents  of the area with the 22 fishermen on board  around 10am Saturday, from the east side of the island when they were out in the sea fishing. Border Guard of Bangladesh and the Coast Guard have been informed about the incident, said the chairman. Read: IGP leaves for Turkey to attend Interpol general assembly According to local fishermen, those 22 fishermen went in the sea around Friday evening on trawlers owned by Nurul Amin, Md Azim, Md Hossain and Md Younus. Some members of Myanmar Navy crossed the maritime boundary on Saturday morning and took control of the trawlers at gunpoint, they said. Trawler owner Md Azim said his trawler was taken with six fishermen onboard, along with the other three trawlers. An official from the Coast Guard’s Saint Martin station said it is being investigated whether the detained fishermen were Bangladeshi citizens or members of the Rohingya community. Read: Fire at Gulshan high-rise brought under control Teknaf Upazila Nirbahi Officer Parvez Chowdhury said BGB and Coast Guard will take actions in this regard after investigation.