A 14-year-old boy suspected of planning a terrorist attack was arrested today in Cologne and is believed to have joined the Islamic State group.

Emirhan A., was allegedly planning a terrorist attack in the name of the Islamic State, possibly at a Christmas market at the end of the year. Cologne prosecutors are meanwhile investigating the 14-year-old for spreading propaganda of unconstitutional organizations and membership in the “Islamic State.”

According to the prosecutor’s office, Emirhan A. had not previously been of concern to German authorities, but recently posted a video on his TikTok account with references to the “Islamic State” and his oath of allegiance to it, with the comment “Before it’s too late”. In their investigation, the authorities discovered other online profiles of the same person, also with Islamist content. As a username on one of them he had even changed his own to “Suicide Bomber/Martyr” and in the description he had written “I am on my way to death”. It remains unclear, however, what stage of preparation for a possible attack the arrested man had reached.

“The TikTok has long since ceased to be just a dance scene, but has become a breeding ground for extremism. Radicalization is happening in real time – on smartphones in your pants pocket. We need to watch these channels more closely as well. This also means that platform providers must be held more accountable,” said North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Roehl, who welcomed the fact that the security authorities had intervened in time. “A young man was not only glorifying and spreading Islamic State propaganda on his social media channels, but also sharing fantasies of attacks. It is outrageous that 14-year-olds are already like this,” he added.