German intelligence agents received evidence from the US that al-Qaeda dispatched two to four potential terrorists who were en route to Germany and Britain, media reported Wednesday, DPA reported.
Intelligence agents reportedly feared attacks on Christmas markets or similar popular events.
The US authorities informed their German counterparts a week ago that the attackers were due to arrive in Germany on November 22, daily Tagesspiegel wrote in an article to be published Thursday.
The mastermind behind the attack was cited as Mohammed Ilyas Kashmiri, a leading al-Qaeda figure from Pakistan. He is also alleged to be behind an attack earlier this year on a German bakery in Pune, India, in which 17 people died.
Kashmiri reportedly recruited the men for the latest planned attacks in the Afghan-Pakistani border region. Their identity was not known.
Intelligence sources reported that the men were to travel via India and the United Arab Emirates, Tagesspiegel reported. German police had been checking visa requests at embassies in Pakistan, India and the UAE in recent days.