Train traffic in North Rhine-Westphalia proceeds smoothly - fresh crime scene emerges in Saxony-Anhalt
In a series of deliberate arson attacks on Deutsche Bahn routes in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and Saxony-Anhalt, a left-wing extremist group known as the "Angry Birds Commando" has caused significant disruption to both high-speed and regional train services.
The recent incidents involved the deliberate setting of fires on railway cable ducts, which rendered signaling and safety systems inoperable, halting train traffic and causing massive delays affecting thousands of travelers and freight logistics.
The group claimed responsibility for these attacks through a letter published on the leftist platform Indymedia, expressing motives to disrupt capitalist infrastructure and industrial transport ties. Specifically, there were at least three separate cable fires over two days: two in Düsseldorf (NRW) on the Ruhr Axis high-speed line, a critical route linking Düsseldorf, the airport, Duisburg, and connecting to cities like Berlin, Frankfurt, and even the Netherlands; and a third incident near Webau in Saxony-Anhalt.
Authorities, including NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul, have attributed these sabotages to left-wing extremists. The police in Saxony-Anhalt are investigating the incident, with sabotage suspected. Initial investigations suggest that the cable fire in Saxony-Anhalt was deliberately set.
The busy Duisburg-Düsseldorf route was reopened by Deutsche Bahn, but the impact of the arson attack was felt by tens of thousands of travelers, including commuters and vacationers. In North Rhine-Westphalia, authorities suspect left-wing extremists are behind the arson attack in Düsseldorf. Train traffic has resumed, and passengers can continue their journeys as planned.
In Saxony-Anhalt, the cable fire was discovered on Friday evening, and another suspected arson attack occurred on a freight route near Webau district. The route affected in Saxony-Anhalt is a freight route for coal transports.
The Angry Birds Commando is a known left-wing extremist collective, with ties to Antifa and the radical left. Their motivation appears to be the disruption of capitalist and industrial transport systems, as well as opposition to military and colonial complicity.
The police and state security services are ongoing, focusing on confirming the authenticity of communiqués from the Angry Birds Commando and identifying perpetrators. The group had also claimed similar attacks in Berlin, Southern Thuringia, and Saxony earlier in 2025.
Extensive repair work was carried out on five cables with a total length of around 100 meters. A Deutsche Presse-Agentur spokesperson confirmed that everything is running as it should on the reopened route. However, another suspected crime scene related to cable fires was reported in Saxony-Anhalt, but no further details were provided in this article.
These incidents occurred on the nationwide central North-South axis of Deutsche Bahn, causing ripple effects across Germany and neighboring countries. The investigation is active, and authorities are monitoring Indymedia communications closely.
- The arson attacks on Deutsche Bahn routes in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) by the left-wing extremist group Angry Birds Commando have caused a significant disruption in the politics of transportation, as railway cable fires in Düsseldorf and other regions have halted train traffic, affecting thousands of travelers and freight logistics.
- As the general-news broadcasts continuously cover the disruptions in the railway services, crime-and-justice departments are actively investigating these acts of sabotage, with authorities in both NRW and Saxony-Anhalt attributing these crimes to left-wing extremists and closely monitoring Indymedia communications for leads on the Angry Birds Commando.
