It has been revealed that the nine men arrested in Germany and the Netherlands for planning terror attacks inspired by Islamic State entered Western Europe via Ukraine when the war first broke out in the spring of 2022.
The men, who mostly came from Tajikistan, were arrested in North Rhine-Westphalia on Thursday and locations in the Netherlands last week. German prosecutors accuse them of founding a terror group in Germany and planning attacks. They are also accused of collecting money and sending it back to the Islamic State of the Khorasan Province (ISPK), a regional offshoot of the Islamic State terror group in Central Asia.
The suspects were “long known and share a radical Islamic attitude,” the federal prosecutor’s office said.
German prosecutors said the men arrested were Turkmenistan national Ata A., Kyrgyzstan national Abrorjon K., and five citizens of Tajikistan: Mukhammadshujo A., Nuriddin K., Shamshud N., Said S. and Raboni Z.
The ISPK has been a concern of German security authorities, and there are fears that some migrants entering the country support the group. The fact that some men posing as refugees from Ukraine entered the country is sure to further fuel the debate around mass immigration and security.
“The strengthening of this group in Afghanistan increases the threat situation in Germany,” the head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, warned in the spring. Last fall, two young Islamists were arrested in Iserlohn and Bremerhaven for their alleged links to the terror group. One member is accused of being instructed by an ISPK leader in Afghanistan to produce an explosive device. Later, he allegedly planned to attack police officers with a knife.
According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, the alleged terror group members were arrested in Düsseldorf, Gladbeck, Gelsenkirchen, Rhein-Sieg, Warendorf and Ennepe-Ruhr. At the same time, there were two arrests in the Netherlands, in Eindhoven and Breda.
The men are also being accused of trying to procure weapons but were unsuccessful in their efforts. Police say they had no concrete plan for an attack and were still scouting targets.
Radical Islam a serious threat in Germany
As earlier reported by Remix News, Islamic terrorism is a serious threat in Germany, despite Muslims making up a small proportion of the population.
For example, the German Federal Public Prosecutor (GBA) announced that for 2019, 400 of the total 663 terrorist proceedings were related to Islamic terrorism, representing 60.3 percent of all cases, a finding that was also reflected in previous years. The GBA data also shows that Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis make up a significant number of these terrorist suspects.
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In the first half of 2020, 151 cases have been pursued against Islamist terrorist suspects in Germany.
Critics accuse Germany’s interior minister, Nancy Faeser, of downplaying the threat of Islamic extremism, migrant crime, and left-wing violence for political reasons.
According to a report by the Tagesspiegel, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) considers around 2,000 Islamists in Germany to be particularly dangerous.
The number of extremists is higher for Islamists, who are classified as dangerous by the police since the protection of the constitution “can classify dangerous persons as a risk even before a possible criminal liability.” At the request of the Tagesspiegel, the Federal Criminal Police Office spoke of currently 551 Islamist threats and 536 “relevant people,” who are potential supporters of terrorism.
