A traditional Christmas market in Essen | Patrik Stollarz/AFP via Getty Images Six Syrians arrested over German Christmas market terror plot The suspects are believed to have planned an attack in the city of Essen.

German police on Tuesday arrested six Syrian nationals suspected of planning a terrorist attack on a German Christmas market, according to local media.

Prosecutors in Frankfurt said the six Syrians, who had all applied for asylum in Germany, “are suspected of being members of the foreign terrorist organization that calls itself Islamic State,” Reuters reported. “The accused are also suspected of having planned an attack against a public target in Germany using either weapons or explosives.”

According to German public broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk, which cited sources close to the investigations, the group planned an attack on a Christmas market in the city of Essen in North Rhine-Westphalia, although this has not been confirmed by prosecutors.

About 500 policemen in four different federal states were involved in the raids in which the men, said to be aged between 20 and 28, were arrested. Four of the suspects arrived in Germany in December 2014, the other two in the following years, Reuters reported.

The arrest comes one month before the first anniversary of a Christmas market attack in Berlin that was carried out by a failed Tunisian asylum seeker and killed 12 people.

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