Stepping Up Security: Tipped-Off German Police Detain Suspected Terrorists

Three citizens of the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo suspected of having links to a terrorist network have been arrested in a car with a Belgian license plate on the Munich-Salzburg motorway, according to the German news magazine Focus.

German police detained three Kosovars in a car with a Belgian license plate near the border with Austria; investigation is already under way to look into whether they planned a terror attack, the German news magazine Focus reported.

The suspects were arrested on March 22 ahead of a series of deadly terrorist attacks on an international airport and a subway station in the Belgian capital Brussels.

The blown out facade of the terminal is seen as a fire truck drives down the ramp at Zaventem airport, one of the sites of two deadly attacks in Brussels, Belgium, Tuesday, March 22, 2016

© AP Photo / Peter Dejong

According to the Focus, police in the southern German state of Bavaria arrested the three men after receiving a relevant intelligence tip-off.

"Investigations have been launched into the suspected planning of a serious criminal act against the state because there was notification of that," a police spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also said that thus far there has been no indication that the suspects had any links to the Brussels attacks even though this could not be excluded.

The Brussels bombings prompted German authorities to step up security measures at airports, train stations, and on the country's borders with Belgium, France, Luxemburg and the Netherlands.

On Tuesday, at least 31 people were killed and 270 more injured in two bomb blasts in Brussels Airport and an explosion at the Maalbeek metro station in central Brussels. The country's security level has been raised to maximum following the attacks.