Polish Student Arrested Over Alleged Christmas Market Attack Plan

Polish security services have detained a 19-year-old university student on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack at a Christmas market that could have caused mass casualties, authorities said. The suspect, identified as Mateusz W., is a student at the Catholic University of Lublin and was arrested in late November at his apartment in eastern Poland.

According to officials, the student allegedly sought contact with the Islamic State and intended to carry out an explosives-based attack in one of Poland’s cities during the festive season. Security services said they seized digital data carriers and items linked to Islam during the arrest. Authorities declined to reveal the planned location of the attack, citing concerns about public panic.

Prosecutors have charged the suspect with preparing a terrorist act that could have resulted in deaths or serious injuries, and a court has ordered him held in custody for three months. Polish officials linked the case to earlier incidents involving young suspects planning attacks and urged the public to remain vigilant ahead of Christmas, pointing to past attacks in Europe during the holiday period.

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