Two secondary school students accused of carrying out a bomb attack on a Gurudwara in the German city of Essen nearly two weeks ago are radical Islamists and sympathisers of the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda, authorities said.


The two allegedly detonated a fire extinguisher filled with explosives at the entrance of the Nanaksar Satsang Sabha Gurudwara on the evening of April 16.


Before setting off the explosion, the two 16-year-old secondary school students unsuccessfully tried to break into the gurudwara through the entrance door, North Rhine Westphalia Interior Minister Ralf Jaeger said yesterday in a report presented to the home affairs committee of the state parliament in Duesseldorf.


They have admitted carrying out the attack, but denied that the operation was motivated by religion, the report said. They told their investigators that they did it "just for the kick of building fireworks".