2 arrested after arson attack on German defense company

Two people were arrested in Munich in connection with an arson attack targeting a company in the defense industry, German media reported Thursday.

Incendiary devices were thrown from a car around midnight onto a construction site in front of the headquarters of technology company Rohde & Schwarz, which is active in security technology and communications for government agencies and the military, public broadcaster BR reported.

Police arrested a 28-year-old woman and a 38-year-old man, both Bulgarian citizens, at a gas station. Their connection to the incident is part of an ongoing investigation.

No information was immediately available on a possible motive or the circumstances surrounding the incident.

A witness alerted police around midnight and reported that incendiary devices had been thrown from a car in Munich's Berg am Laim district.

One device ignited near construction containers in front of the Rohde & Schwarz headquarters. A police patrol that arrived at the scene extinguished it, causing only minor property damage. No one was injured.

Emergency responders found another incendiary device at the scene that had not detonated. Special forces from the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office rendered it harmless, and the area was cordoned off during the operation.

In 2021, unidentified perpetrators set fire to a power line near the Rohde & Schwarz facility that had been left exposed in an excavation pit. A letter posted online claimed responsibility and described the act as an attack on the "defense contractor."

The 2021 incident remains unsolved. The sabotage caused a power outage affecting 20,000 households in eastern Munich, although the company said it was not affected.