Security agencies in Germany and the Netherlands are on high alert after Islamist propaganda sites began circulating threats targeting upcoming carnival celebrations in multiple cities. The propaganda, which is being disseminated via extremist channels, includes images and messages inciting attacks against carnival-goers in Nuremberg, Cologne, and the Dutch port city of Rotterdam.
One disturbing image shared by the propagandists shows knives, firearms, and the flag of the Islamic State (IS), alongside the hashtag #LetsSlaughter. Another image depicts a driver behind the wheel of a vehicle aiming at a crowd, with crosshairs marking individuals as targets, and the caption, “What are you waiting for? The streets are full of targets.”
German Islamist propaganda sites are sharing content threatening to attack carnival-goers across Germany and the Netherlands in the coming weeks.
One image shared on the platforms depicts knives, firearms, the flag of Islamic State, and a despicable #LetsSlaughter hashtag.… pic.twitter.com/xwmRMLcVPb
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) February 25, 2025Authorities have expressed grave concern over the growing mobilization and radicalization among Islamist extremists, particularly in recent months. A state protection officer told Bild, “These assassinations are spreading quickly. Especially in recent months, there has been growing mobilization and radicalization among Islamists.”
Police forces, state protection, and anti-terrorism units are actively reviewing safety precautions. While details of the security measures remain confidential to avoid tipping off potential attackers, authorities acknowledge the difficulty in fully securing massive public events.
Martin Lotz, head of operations for the Cologne police, stated, “Due to the abstract high danger in connection with public events, we are prepared for such developments.” In response, operational strategies are being adapted, with heightened vigilance in cities hosting large gatherings.
One state protection officer, however, told the German tabloid, “It is not possible to protect such huge events 100%.”
Carnivals and other public gatherings have increasingly become targets of terrorist attacks in recent years.
In August last year, during a diversity festival in Solingen, a 26-year-old Syrian Islamist, Issa al Hassan, stabbed three people to death, two of whom were involved in pro-refugee activities. Eight others were injured. The attack was later praised by Voice of Khorasan, an extremist magazine affiliated with the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISPK), a branch of IS operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
More recently, in December 2024, a Saudi national drove his vehicle into a crowd at the Magdeburg Christmas market, killing six people and injuring at least 299 others. Just two weeks before, an Iraqi man was arrested for allegedly planning an attack on a Christmas market in Augsburg, Bavaria.
Perhaps the most infamous of these attacks occurred in December 2016, when a truck was driven into the Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring 56 others.
The attacker, Anis Amri, a rejected asylum seeker from Tunisia, shot and killed the original driver before hijacking the truck to carry out the attack.
