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3 German Teenagers Sentenced in Sikh Temple Bombing


FILE - In this April 16, 2016, photo, a police officer walks in front of a Sikh temple after an explosion near it injured three people and damaged the structure, in the western German city of Essen.
FILE - In this April 16, 2016, photo, a police officer walks in front of a Sikh temple after an explosion near it injured three people and damaged the structure, in the western German city of Essen.

Three teenage boys were sentenced to six to seven years in prison Tuesday for detonating a homemade bomb outside a Sikh temple in Germany last year.

A state court in Essen found two of the boys, identified only as T. and B. as they are minors, guilty of attempted murder. According to court records, the two largely admitted to the charges. The third, identified as I., denied being involved, but was found guilty of complicity and sentenced to six years.

Prosecutors said the three had conspired to create explosives from items they purchased online and planned to attack the Sikh temple as a wedding ceremony was being held there.

A Sikh congregational leader was left with a fractured foot and has since been unable to resume his duties. Other attendees suffered superficial cuts. The blast destroyed the temple's door.

The boys had been radicalized before the April 16, 2016, attack and had been in contact with ultraconservative Muslims known as Salafists, according to the court.

The court, however, found no link to Islamic State.

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