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German authorities are investigating whether an attempted sabotage attack on a power substation near Cologne this week is linked to a similar attack on electrical infrastructure in eastern Brandenburg a day earlier, as officials weigh the possibility of foreign state involvement.
North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul told a news conference Wednesday that investigators are pursuing two lines of inquiry: "foreign-state directed sabotage and left-wing extremism." Neither possibility has been ruled out, he said.
The incident near Cologne occurred Tuesday evening when unidentified suspects targeted a substation in the Rheidt district of Bergheim. Reul said there is "initial suspicion" that the act was anti-constitutional in nature.
"That was intentional, that was a crime," Reul said. "Whoever goes after that is attacking our country."
According to Reul, the suspects appear to have placed conductive material, possibly cables, on an overhead line to cause a short circuit. Police were alerted after witnesses reported seeing bright flashes in the area, and several power lines were affected, according to local media reports. Officers sealed off a wide perimeter and deployed a helicopter as they expanded the search of the crime scene.
Michael Esser, criminal director of the Cologne police, said investigators recovered six devices in the area connected to the sabotage attempt. He described the devices as built to use pyrotechnic material to propel a wire upward and over extra-high-voltage power lines, triggering short circuits.
"Our investigation is still in its early stages. We are classifying this act as an attack on critical infrastructure," Esser said. He added that police are examining possible connections to the earlier incident in Brandenburg and are "working very closely" with colleagues there, though he declined to give further details.
The Cologne-area incident came a day after a similar sabotage attempt targeted an electrical facility near the Jaenschwalde power plant, one of Germany's largest brown-coal, or lignite, power stations, located in eastern Brandenburg near the Polish border.
Authorities said the suspects in that case used a comparable homemade device and pyrotechnic items to cause short circuits on extra-high-voltage lines.
Brandenburg Interior Minister Jan Redmann said his state's investigators are not excluding any potential perpetrators. "We cannot currently rule out any particular perpetrators," he said. "This is a hybrid threat we are currently witnessing, and as such, we cannot rule out the possibility that foreign powers are behind it."
Brandenburg police said they are also examining whether a terrorist organization could be responsible for the sabotage attempt.
No arrests had been announced as of Wednesday, and officials in both North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg said their investigations remain in early stages. Authorities in the two states said they are coordinating closely as they work to determine whether the two attacks were carried out by the same actors and to identify a motive.
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