Polish Student Linked to ISIS Arrested for Planning Attack on Christmas Market
Authorities detained a Polish university student accused of preparing an ISIS‑inspired explosive attack on a Christmas market.
As reported on December 16, 2025, Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) arrested a 19‑year‑old student of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, identified as Mateusz W., who was accused of preparing an explosive attack on a Christmas market in an unspecified Polish city to support the so‑called Islamic State.
Government spokesman Jacek Dobrzyński stated that the suspect had been monitored because he had “become deeply fascinated with Islam,” had “fallen in love with terrorism,” and sought contact with ISIS, adding that “his goal was to kill and intimidate Poles” and that “the case is serious.”
ABW detained him in Lublin at the end of November, seized data carriers, and placed him in three months of pre‑trial detention. Dobrzyński said the investigation, led by the ABW’s Szczecin branch under the National Prosecutor’s Office, showed “no Russian traces, only Islamic ones,” and described the case as “another example of preparations for an attack before Christmas,” noting that officers had previously stopped other young suspects in Olsztyn. He declined to name the intended city, stating that similar threats could occur “in any Polish or European city,” and emphasised that the suspect came from “a very Catholic family.”
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