German police have defused a device that was found inside a package in the German city of Potsdam, a police report on Twitter said.
"The controlled defusal of the suspicious object has been successful!" police representatives wrote.
+++EIL+++ Die kontrollierte Entschärfung des verdächtigen Gegenstandes ist erfolgt! #potsdam #0112pdm
— PolizeiBrandenburg_E (@PolizeiBB_E) 1 декабря 2017 г.
However, the police have not yet confirmed whether the package contained any explosives.
"We can confirm that the device was dangerous. Further information about the device will follow," the police wrote on Twitter.
Wir können bestätigen, dass der Gegenstand gefährlich war. Weitere Informationen zum Gegenstand folgen.
— PolizeiBrandenburg_E (@PolizeiBB_E) 1 декабря 2017 г.
Earlier in the day, a christmas market in the downtown was evacuated, local police said on Twitter. The area was surrounded.
"We are being currently deployed in the city of #Potsdam because of a suspicious object. A blocking circuit has already been set up. We have requested for the deployment of special forces! The Christmas market is also affected [by the measures]. Further information will follow," the statement read.
Bitte folgen Sie den Anweisungen der Polizei in #Potsdam! Weitere Informationen i.Z.m. dem verdächtigen Gegenstand folgen auf unserem Einsatzkanal @PolizeiBB_E unter dem Hashtag #0112pdm.
— Polizei Brandenburg (@PolizeiBB) December 1, 2017
The police has been deployed to the "Blauer Lichterglanz" Christmas market downtown; some streets, including Brandenburger Straße, have been partially closed.
Merry Xmas! 🙄Police in Potsdam, Germany evacuate Christmas market, investigate suspicious object pic.twitter.com/gZKslJx3Ta
— Frija Nickelsen 👀 (@Frija_Sims) December 1, 2017
According to the Potsdamer Neue Nachrichten, the package was delivered to a pharmacy; an employee discovered wires and suspicious objects inside of it and reported the case to the police.
#breaking
— Ersin Satlyck (@e_sklt) December 1, 2017
Police have evacuated a Christmas market and the surrounding area in the German city of #Potsdam, near Berlin, to investigate a suspicious object pic.twitter.com/CGWoZXdNFC
The police have called on people in the area to wait for instructions.
In November, German police detained six men, allegedly belonging to the Daesh terrorist organization.
According to media reports, the men were planning an attack at a Christmas market in the city of Essen, with weapons and explosives.
Germany has been on edge after a string of Islamist-linked attacks last year, the deadliest being a truck-ramming at a Berlin Christmas market. The self-confessed Daesh member, Anis Amri, drove a stolen truck into a crowd, killing 12 people and injuring 48 others.
Correction: The previous version of this article incorrectly called the device "explosive" instead of "dangerous".
