Berlin, Apr 26 (IANS): German police have arrested two Syrian brothers on suspicion of planning an attack motivated by a "radical Islamist and jihadi mindset".

The men were seeking to use a homemade explosive belt to "carry out an attack against civilian targets", according to a joint statement by German local and national police authorities.

However, a specific target had not yet been chosen, reports Xinhua news agency.

The older suspect, who is aged 28 and lives in Hamburg, had acquired "basic materials for the production of explosive material", according to the statement.

His brother, who is 24 and lives in the south of the country, had "encouraged him in planning the crime and thus aided and abetted".

In recent years, there have been a number of Islamist terrorist attacks in Germany, including knife attacks in Dresden in 2020 and Bavaria in 2021.

An attack that left four people seriously injured in a Duisburg gym last week could also have been motivated by Islamist extremism, according to the latest findings.