Three people were injured in a bomb attack at a Sikh temple in western Germany, police said on Thursday, adding that two 16-year-olds arrested after the attack appeared to have Islamist backgrounds.
“We must act on the assumption that it was a terrorist attack, religiously tainted terrorism of the Islamist scene,” said Frank Richter, police chief in the city of Essen, where the attack took place last weekend.
One of the suspects handed himself in after police released footage showing two young men carrying backpacks in which investigators believe they hid explosives used in the attack.
The second suspect was arrested in a police raid.
Both teenagers were born and raised in Germany, German media reported.
One of the three people injured was in a serious but not life-threatening condition, police said.