Suspected Germany-Bound Bomb Intercepted

A suspected bomb in a suitcase checked in on a German-bound plane was intercepted in Namibia, Germany's Federal Crime Office, BKA, said Thursday.

The BKA said in a statement that the suspicious baggage had been seized Wednesday at the international airport in Windhoek, the capital of the southern African country, before it was loaded on to an LTU/Air Berlin flight to Munich.

No explosives were found, but a scan had revealed batteries attached by wires to a fuse and a clock. Authorities were still investigating whether the device could have detonated, the BKA said.

The plane had eventually been permitted to take off and landed safely in Munich on Thursday morning.

The announcement shed some light on seemingly out-of-the-blue comments Wednesday by German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, who raised suspicion of a pending attack after speaking of a "new security situation" in the country.

"From today, there will be a visible police presence. I thought it should be explained to citizens," said De Maiziere at a hastily called news conference in Berlin on Wednesday. "There will also be a variety of measures that will not be visible. There is reason for concern, but no reason for hysteria."

"According to information from a foreign partner which came to us after the Yemen incident, we suspect a planned attack is due to be put into action at the end of November," De Maiziere said.

Last month, authorities discovered two US-bound parcel bombs originating from Yemen, one of which transited through Cologne airport in western Germany.

Recent investigations by the county's federal crime office "confirmed the continued efforts of Islamist groups to carry out planned attacks in Germany," De Maiziere added.

"There are also concrete indications in this case," he said.