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A shooting at a synagogue in the German city of Halle on Monday was a far-right terror attack, said Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht.

Alleged perpetrator Stephan Balliet had four kilos (9lb) of explosives in his car, Ms Lambrecht said in a statement with attorney-general Peter Frank.

Mr Frank said the gunman had been planning a massacre. The suspect, 27, faces two counts of murder and nine counts of attempted murder, German media report.

The German national is due to appear in court on Thursday afternoon.

Prosecutors allege he intended to create a «worldwide effect» by deliberately mimicking tactics used during a mass shooting at two New Zealand mosques earlier this year. About 2,200 people watched a live stream he allegedly posted on the online streaming platform Twitch.

About 60 worshippers were at a Yom Kippur service at the time of the attack.

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Turkey has boosted its forces on the Syrian border ahead of a long-threatened incursion that could target Kurdish forces allied to the US.

Troops would cross into Syria «shortly», a presidential aide said.

Turkey wants to create a «safe zone» cleared of Kurdish militia that will also house some of Turkey’s 3.6 million Syrian refugees.

Donald Trump has withdrawn US troops in the area in a controversial decision widely condemned at home and abroad. He again defended his move on Tuesday, saying the Kurds had not been abandoned, calling them «special».

The Kurds were key US allies in defeating the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) in Syria. But Turkey regards the Kurdish militias that dominate the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as terrorists. The US pullout was seen as paving the way for an offensive.

Convoys of trucks with armoured personnel carriers and tanks were seen heading to the Turkish border town of Akcakale on Tuesday night. Images of buses carrying personnel were shown by state news agency Anadolu.

Turkey is planning to create a 32km (20-mile) deep «safe zone» running for 480km (300 miles) along the Syrian side of the border Fahrettin Altun, the Turkish president’s director of communications, said Turkish forces would cross the border shortly to «neutralise a long-standing threat against Turkish citizens».

He said Kurdish militias could either «defect or we will have [to] stop them from disrupting our counter-IS efforts».

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A man has been charged under the Official Secrets Act for an alleged «damaging disclosure» of defence information.

The Metropolitan Police said Simon Finch, 49, from Swansea, was alleged to have accessed the information as a civil servant or government contractor. He has been bailed to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 9 October.

A Counter Terrorism Command probe was launched around 28 October 2018.

Under the 1989 act, a disclosure is considered damaging if it «damages the capability» of the Armed Forces, leads to loss of life, injury to its personnel or endangers UK interests abroad.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: «We are aware of proceedings involving an individual who has been charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act. «This is a police matter.»

A top al-Qaeda leader has been killed in a joint US-Afghan military operation, according to Afghanistan’s intelligence agency.

Asim Umar, the head of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), died in a raid on a Taliban compound in Helmand province on 23 September, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) said.

At least 40 civilians were reported to have been killed in the same operation. The US and al-Qaeda have not confirmed Umar’s death.

In a statement shared on Twitter on Tuesday, the NDS said the joint US-Afghan raid took place at a compound in the «Taliban stronghold of Musa Qala» district, where Umar and other AQIS members «had been embedded». It said six other AQIS members were also killed, «most» of whom were Pakistani.

Raihan, Umar’s «courier» to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, was named as one of those killed.

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An attack on motorists in the western town of Limburg is being investigated as terrorism, security sources have told German media.

On Monday, a man hijacked a lorry and ploughed into eight vehicles waiting at a traffic light, injuring eight people. Seven were treated in hospital.

A thirty-two year-old suspect has been arrested. Originally from Syria, the man has been living in Germany since 2015, local reports say.

Public broadcaster ZDF quoted sources as saying the incident was being treated by investigators as having a «terrorist background», although Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Tuesday he could not yet say how the incident was being classified.

Police searched a flat in Langen, south of Frankfurt, early on Tuesday and said it was linked to what had happened in Limburg, local reports said. Security sources told the DPA news agency the suspect had been known to the police for drug offences and grievous bodily harm. Prosecutors are also investigating whether the attacker had any mental health concerns.

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