Faeser warns of Islamist attacks in Germany
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) has warned against attacks in view of the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel and recent arrests in Germany. "Islamist terrorist organizations, but also individual Islamist perpetrators, pose a considerable danger at all times," she told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND). The Gaza war has a direct impact on the security situation. "We have taken such consistent action against the Islamist scene in recent weeks because we are keeping a close eye on the changed threat situation."
It is thanks to the Federal Criminal Police Office that around 170 channels or content on the Telegram network alone have now been removed "with which repugnant anti-Semitic and Islamist propaganda was spread", said Faeser.
In Burscheid in North Rhine-Westphalia and in Wittstock/Dosse in Brandenburg, two young people were arrested in the past few days who, according to information from security circles on Wednesday, had presumably planned an attack on a Christmas market in Leverkusen, among other things. Investigations are now continuing.
The Leverkusen district court issued an arrest warrant for a 15-year-old suspect. He is accused of planning and preparing an Islamist terrorist attack. According to the NRW Ministry of the Interior, the suspect is a German-Afghan national who was arrested in Burscheid near Leverkusen on Tuesday evening. He is said to have expressed sympathies for the so-called Islamic State (IS).
According to the Brandenburg Ministry of the Interior, a 16-year-old with Russian citizenship was arrested in Wittstock/Dosse. The teenager is specifically suspected of having prepared an attack. According to the NRW Ministry of the Interior, the tip-off about the two came from abroad.
"We have to keep our eyes open, also with regard to our Christmas markets," said NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU). According to the Cologne police, the arrest warrant for the youth from their jurisdiction shows once again that the early warning system has worked.
Before the arrests became known, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution had warned on Wednesday that against the background of the Middle East conflict, the danger of possible terrorist attacks against Jewish and Israeli people and institutions as well as against "the West" had recently increased significantly.
CDU interior politician Philipp Amthor called for consequences. "These warnings must be taken very seriously," he told the "Tagesspiegel" newspaper. In order to deal with the dangers, our security authorities now need more than just declarations of concern and lip service from politicians, but competencies and legal bases that are up to date."
In light of Faeser's warnings, it's crucial to address the escalating threat of extremism, particularly in the form of Islamist terrorism and individual extremist actions, which pose a significant danger at all times.addrressing this, authorities have taken consistent action against the Islamist scene, recognizing the changed threat situation.
The increased warnings of potential terrorism against Jewish, Israeli, and western entities, along with the recent arrests of individuals planning attacks, underscore the necessity to tackle extremism and terrorism-related crime with comprehensive measures and updated legal authorizations.
Source: www.dpa.com
