An Iraqi man accused of attempting to derail high-speed trains in Germany may have carried out more attacks than previously thought, investigators said Friday.

The investigation into the alleged terror attacks is widening after the 42-year-old Iraqi and his wife were arrested in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on Monday, followed by two more Iraqis arrested in the Czech Republic on Thursday.

Read more: Terrorism deaths down, but still a widespread issue

The main suspect in custody in Vienna is accused of placing steel wires across the tracks of the high-speed rail lines between Nuremberg and Munich in October and in Berlin in December. Nobody was injured in the attempts to derail the trains.

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Additional incidents under investigation

In a new development on Friday, authorities in the southern German state of Bavaria said they were now investigating two additional attempts to derail trains on the Nuremberg-Munich line around Allersberg using wood and steel wedges placed onto the tracks, dpa news agency reported.

"We assume that there were three incidents at different times at the same site," a spokesperson from the Bavarian state criminal office told dpa, referring to Allersberg.

The spokesperson said the attempts to derail the trains failed due to the faulty construction design of the wedges placed on the tracks.

In a separate development, Der Spiegel magazine reported that Austrian authorities discovered night vision goggles and a drone at the Vienna residence of the Iraqi man.

Trucks: New weapon of choice for terrorists Nice - Bastille Day (July 14) 2016 A new era of terror appears to have been ushered in when a huge truck plowed through masses of people along a beachfront promenade in the French city of Nice. Some 86 people were killed and at least 300 injured in the carnage. Police said the attacker was raised in Tunisia but moved to France in 2005. He was shot dead by police at the scene of the attack.

Trucks: New weapon of choice for terrorists Berlin - December 2016 A truck attack on a Christmas market left 12 dead and 48 injured a week before Christmas. Police said an 'Islamic State' militant hijacked the truck driven by Polish driver Lukasz Urban who tried to alter the direction of the truck, saving lives as he sat in the passenger seat. Urban was killed by the attacker who fled the scene but was shot dead four days later.

Trucks: New weapon of choice for terrorists Stockholm - April 2017 The back end of a delivery truck was left sticking out from the corner of a department store in downtown Stockholm as police investigators examined the site; 5 people were killed and 14 injured. Police soon arrested a suspect. Appearing in court two days later his lawyer Johan Eriksson told the court that the man "admits to a terrorist crime." He claimed to be an IS supporter.

Trucks: New weapon of choice for terrorists London Bridge attack - June 2017 London endured a trio of truck attacks in 2017 that have left 18 dead and 100 injured. The deadliest attack occured June 3 on London Bridge and the nearby Borough Market, leaving 11 dead and 50 injured. The other vehicle attacks occurred March 22 and June 19; the former left six dead and at least 40 injured, while the latter left one person dead and 10 injured.

Trucks: New weapon of choice for terrorists Charlottesville, VA - August 2017 In a bizarre twist a white supremacist took a page from Islamist militants and turned his vehicle into a weapon, plowing into a crowd of people at an anti-fascism rally, which left one person dead and at least 19 injured. Police charged a 20-year-old man with second-degree murder. He was photographed at the rally with Vanguard America, a white supremacist group.

Trucks: New weapon of choice for terrorists Barcelona - August 2017 A van was used to run down pedestrians on the city's Las Ramblas street; 17 people were killed and at least 100 injured. Several hours later, 75 miles down the coast, a car slammed into a group of people in the town of Cambrils, killing one and injuring five. There were five people in the attack vehicle and police killed all of them. Police confirmed that the two attacks were connected.

Trucks: New weapon of choice for terrorists New York - October 2017 It didn't take long for the suspect to wreak havoc Tuesday in lower Manhattan; eight people were killed and 11 seriously injured. After his truck came to a crashing halt the suspect jumped out with a pellet gun and a paintball gun and shouted "God is great." The 29-year-old suspect was shot by police and taken into custody.



Suspected terror cell

The man detained in Vienna has admitted to carrying out the attacks, but he has denied any terrorist motive. His wife has denied involvement.

Austrian authorities say an "Islamic State" flag and Arabic writings found near the scene of the attacks indicate a suspected terrorist motive.

Austrian Interior Minister Herbert Kickl said Thursday that the two suspects detained in Prague "formed a cell" with the man detained in Vienna. A Czech court has ordered the terror suspects to be extradited to Austria.

cw/aw (dpa)

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