The radical Muslim boy attempted to blow up the device at the Ludwigshafen Christmas market on November 26th. When the device failed, he tried again on December 5th, prosecutors said on Friday.
In his second attempt, he placed the explosive device under a bush near the town hall, in a rucksack filled with nails.
A pedestrian spotted the bag and alerted police. Focus magazine reported on Thursday, citing security sources, the device was then exploded under controlled conditions.
The radical 12-year-old, born in the town in Rhineland-Palatinate in 2004, is a member of ISIS, according to Focus, but cannot be prosecuted because he is aged under 14. The public broadcaster Suedwestrundfunk, cited unnamed security sources, who said the boy had received instructions from ISIS via the encrypted instant messaging service Telegram.
Local prosecutor Hubert Ströber told AFP that to call the device a bomb would be an exaggeration. The powder in the homemade bomb had been created out of the ingredients of fireworks and sparklers and was flammable but not explosive.
Also on Thursday, prosecutors announced the arrest of a Tunisian man suspected of planning an unspecified mission for ISIS. The 24-year-old identified only as Charfeddine T. joined ISIS in October 2015, before he arrived in Germany the prosecutors’ statement said.
Prosecutors had obtained an arrest warrant against him on Wednesday, accusing him of membership of a foreign terrorist organisation.
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