2007 bomb plot in Germany

The 2007 bomb plot in Germany, planned by the al-Qaeda controlled, Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) affiliated Sauerland terror cell (German: Sauerland-Gruppe, lit. 'Sauerland Group'), was discovered following an extensive nine-month investigation involving more than 600 agents in five German states. The number of agents involved in a counterterrorism operation led by the federal police had never been the case before. At the same time, Danish police in Copenhagen were busy with explosives. A Pakistani and an Afghan man have been charged with preparing to carry out their attacks under al-Qaeda plans. Authorities said they were unaware of any direct links between the terrorists arrested in the two European countries. Three men were arrested on 4 September 2007 while leaving a rented cottage in the Oberschledorn district of Medebach, Germany where they had stored 700 kg (1,500 lb) of a hydrogen peroxide-based mixture and 26 military-grade detonators, and were attempting to build car bombs. A supporter was arrested in Turkey. All four had attended an IJU-training camp in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2006. They were convicted in 2010 and given prison sentences of varying lengths; all have since been released.