Cops foiled suspected terror plot ahead of England’s Euro 2024 final when they raided ‘ISIS cell’ hours before kick off
POLICE foiled a suspected terror plot from IS ahead of England’s Euros final – raiding a series of addresses just hours before kick-off.
Officers swooped amid fears of an imminent attack on the Three Lions fan zone in Berlin’s sprawling Breitscheidplatz.
Thousands of supporters had gathered there ahead of England’s 2-1 defeat to Spain in last Sunday’s football showpiece.
Three suspects were detained by German special forces during a series of co-ordinated raids in nearby Potsdam.
It has since emerged that police searched three addresses while looking for five men after pictures were taken on phones of Breitscheidplatz and a large church.
The men were said to be known IS supporters already under German police surveillance.
A 2016 terror attack at Breitscheidplatz saw jihadists drive a truck into a Christmas market, killing 12 and wounding 56.
A spokesperson for Berlin Police told The Sun on Sunday: “The homes of three men were searched at three addresses in Potsdam.
“Forces from the special task forces were involved in the operation.
The measures were carried out in connection with an immediate threat from the Islamist spectrum.”
Sources said the men were put under surveillance in the days leading up to the final.
The suspects have since been released under investigation.
It comes after we exclusively reported a chilling terror warning ahead of the Euros from the German Interior Minister in March.
Nancy Faeser said: “One thing can be said for sure – the dangers have reached a new level. The state is arming itself even more strongly against all current threats.”
The latest threat comes amid heightened security in Paris ahead of the Olympics which begins on Friday.
British cops will be among a 45,000-strong force patrolling the streets of the French capital.
Central parts around the Seine, including the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, are already shut to vehicles.
Last month IS terrorists threatened attacks on the Olympics.
The group posted an appalling propaganda image showing one of its terrorists flying an armed drone into the Eiffel Tower.
Some 130 people on France’s terrorist watchlist have already been prevented from entering the country.
At least 10 terror attacks have been foiled across Europe in the last 12 months alone, according to Dutch spooks.