21 explosive devices defused as police hunt German power grid saboteur

German police said they have found and defused nine more homemade explosive devices close to high-voltage power lines in Saxony, following attacks on the electricity grid in several states.

This brings the total number of devices found in the state of Saxony to 21 since the first incidents last week, in which explosive launching devices were used to drape wires over power lines and disable them. 

Police are searching for a 48-year-old climate activist suspected in connection with the incidents.

The latest devices were discovered near an electric substation near the town of Schleife, 15 kilometres from the Polish border. They were defused by special forces from the Saxony State Criminal Police Office (LKA).

The Dresden Public Prosecutor General's Office, the Saxony State Criminal Police Office, and the Görlitz Police Directorate continue to ask the public for assistance with the investigations.

On Saturday, officials said a total of 12 explosive devices had been found in the Lusatian lignite mining region on the border with the neighbouring state of Brandenburg, which surrounds Berlin.

"These devices were intended to cause damage to the high-voltage power lines by short-circuiting them," the Dresden police and public prosecutor's office stated. No damage to the power grid occurred, and there is no danger to the public, they added.

Police comb forests for suspect

Meanwhile, an intensive search continues for the man thought to have carried out the attacks on the grid. The incidents are mainly concentrated in Brandenburg and Saxony, and across the country in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW).

Police and prosecutors issued a joint appeal for information, including two photos of the man, and are asking the public for information. A large-scale search took place on Sunday in forestland near the western city of Cologne, but revealed no trace of the suspect.

On Friday, police found explosives in the man's apartment in the western town of Gevelsberg. Later, a special operations unit stormed a truck in a forest near Niederzier, about 100 kilometres away.

The truck appeared to have been converted into a camper van. The wanted man was not found inside.