German police arrested three people in the city of Offenbach today on charges of plotting to carry out an IS-inspired bombing.

Nadja Niesen, Frankfurt City prosecutor, Hessen state, said the three suspects wanted to kill as many "heathens" as possible in their planned attack in the Rhine-Main region. The government has not determined the specific goals of the group. However, the evidence obtained from the raid at three houses in Offenbach is expected to shed some doubt.

The main suspect arrested today is a 24-year-old German of Macedonian descent accused of making explosives and buying weapons online. Two Turkish citizens 21 and 22 years old are suspected of being accomplices of the young man.

The suspects are said to have backed the Islamic State (IS) rebel group, Niesen said, adding that the authorities on November 13 would decide on bringing all three to court. Frankfurt or just the main suspect.

German intelligence and police agencies remained vigilant against ISIS rebels after a Tunisian plunged a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin in 2016, asking for asylum but being refuse. The attack killed 12 people.