A 20-year-old Iraqi has been deported back to his home country after German authorities suspected he was planning a "terrorist attack," Germany's Interior Ministry announced on Saturday.

The Interior Ministry of the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt accused the unnamed man of planning a "serious act of violence." He has been permanently banned from entering Germany.

What did authorities say about the suspect?

German authorities said the suspect lived in Saxony-Anhalt but worked in Lower Saxony.

The police received a tip regarding the suspect, suggesting he was planning a "serious attack" on a Christmas market, media reported.

He was arrested in Lower Saxony on November 21.

The ministry said the deportation order was based on "the prevention of a particular threat to the security of the Federal Republic of Germany or a terrorist threat."

It was not clear whether any evidence confirming said plans was found.

Germany vigilant over 'terror' threats

German authorities have been on alert in recent months, citing an increased risk of terror attacks amid a reported global rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia on the backdrop of the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) said last month that the danger of an Islamist terror attack on German soil had significantly increased.

The agency said the raised risk of attacks against the Jewish community or "the West as a whole" came in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks and Israel's subsequent military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

Germany's migrant communities of Arab origins are often the main suspects of such attacks.

rmt/ab (AFP, dpa)

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