German authorities arrest teenagers suspected of planning attack

DUESSELDORF/MUNICH (Reuters) -German authorities said on Wednesday they have arrested two teenagers, one in North Rhine-Westphalia and one in Brandenburg, on suspicion of planning and preparing an attack on a Christmas market.

North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul said the two teenagers, one 15 and the other 16 years old, were arrested on suspicion of planning an attack on a Christmas market, but declined to name the market in question.

Brandenburg Interior Minister Michael Stuebgen said in a statement: "The Brandenburg police arrested a Russian youth who is suspected of having prepared an attack."

A source close to the matter, who declined to be named, said the 16-year-old was a Russian citizen from Chechnya.

(Reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff in Duesseldorf and Joern Poltz in MunichWriting by Kirsti Knolle and Victoria WalderseeEditing by Linda Pasquini and Matthew Lewis)