BERLIN

German police arrested a suspect for planning to carry out knife attack on soldiers, authorities said on Friday.

The 27-year-old Syrian man was believed to have planned attacking a group of German soldiers during their lunch break in the southeastern town of Hof, prosecutors said.

According to the Munich public prosecutor's office, the suspect wanted to carry out a sensational attack “to create a feeling of insecurity among the population” in Germany.

Bavarian prosecutors have confirmed that the suspect was a religious extremist, but did not give any details about his possible links to a terrorist group.

Last month, the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group claimed responsibility for the stabbing attack in Solingen, in which three people were killed and eight others injured.