Alleged Targets Included Frankfurt Airport, US Army Base

German authorities say they've arrested three men accused of planning "massive" terrorist attacks on several targets used by US citizens in that country.

Bloomberg reports two German men and one Turkish national were detained Tuesday at a house in Oberschledorn, in the west German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Bomb components and detonators were also seized, along with hydrogen peroxide-based liquid explosives said to be equivalent to 550 kilograms of TNT.

The men are believed to be members of a local cell of the Islamist terrorist organization Jihad Union, which has been connected to al-Qaeda, said Chief Federal Prosecutor Monika Harms. She called the men's plot "one of the worst terror acts ever planned in Germany."

"We've said repeatedly for months that Germany is in the sights of Islamist terrorism and that we have to be vigilant," she added.

The men reportedly planned to attack sites in Germany popular with US citizens, including bars and discos. At least on official said the men also planned to attack transport centers, including Frankfurt Airport and US army barracks at Hanau, with car bombs.

Another target may have been Ramstein Air Base, according to DPA.

"The main motivation of the group in Germany was hatred of American citizens," said Joerg Ziercke, head of the Federal Criminal Office.

Officials wouldn't confirm the alleged plot might have been tied to the upcoming sixth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US... although Federal Prosecutor Rainer Griesbaum admitted that may have represented "a certain motivation boost."

FMI: www.bka.de/