Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution: Haldenwang: Jihadist threat at a high level

According to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the threat of Islamist terrorist attacks in Germany is currently significantly higher than in recent years – also because of the Gaza war. “The risk of jihadist attacks is higher than it has been for a long time,” said the President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, to the German Press Agency in Berlin. According to him, the security authorities are increasingly processing corresponding tips.

The head of the domestic intelligence service cites various reasons for the increased risk of attacks – including those by individual, radicalized perpetrators. The Islamist Taliban’s seizure of power in Afghanistan has promoted the jihadist idea as a whole. Another factor is the strengthening of the terrorist militia Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISPK), particularly in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Haldenwang went on to say that Koran burnings in Scandinavia and the Israeli military operation against the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip have also contributed to “setting radicalization spirals in motion.”

Haldenwang told the dpa: “The situation in the Middle East after the terrorist attack by Hamas is definitely another reason for the worsening of the threat posed by Islamist terrorism.” It is also clear: “Germany is more in the focus of jihadists than other European countries because our country is considered one of Israel’s most important supporters alongside the USA.”

At the end of May, a 25-year-old Afghan man injured five participants in a rally of the anti-Islam movement Pax Europa and a police officer in Mannheim with a knife. The 29-year-old officer, Rouven Laur, later succumbed to his injuries. Investigators suspect an Islamist extremist motive for the crime.

Focus also on right-wing extremism and espionage

His agency has never underestimated the threat posed by Islamist terrorism, but has instead repeatedly pointed out “that the security situation is very tense,” said the President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. It is currently almost impossible to identify the greatest threat to security. “We are currently dealing with a triad: the threat posed by Islamist terrorism, the social climate that has been heated up by right-wing extremism and xenophobia and hostility towards Muslims, and the influence and espionage activities of foreign states.” Added to this is the threat posed by increasingly violent left-wing extremism.

In response to Koran burnings, two men living in Germany are said to have planned a firearm attack on the Swedish parliament. The two Afghans were arrested in Thuringia in March. As the Federal Prosecutor General announced at the time, they are said to have received corresponding instructions from the ISPK in the summer of 2023 and made concrete preparations.

In Sweden, copies of the Koran were repeatedly publicly set on fire or damaged last year. Those responsible usually denigrated the holy scripture for Muslims at anti-Islamic gatherings.

IS offshoot from Central Asia has desire for expansion

According to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the ISPK’s followers come predominantly from Central Asia. They include Afghans, Uzbeks and Tajiks, as well as people with connections in the North Caucasus. Many of them have combat experience, says Haldenwang. They have the same religious principles and follow the same preachers. The Russian language, which everyone speaks, can also be a unifying factor. “The ISPK is striving to expand its sphere of influence beyond its region of origin and also to Western Europe,” says the head of the domestic secret service.

Arrest at the airport

Last Friday, a man with German-Moroccan-Polish nationality was caught at Cologne/Bonn Airport while attempting to leave the country. He is suspected of having transferred a total of almost 1,700 US dollars to an ISPK account in September 2023 via a cryptocurrency exchange. He had unsuccessfully applied to work as a steward and security guard for several major events, including so-called side events for the European Football Championship (June 14 to July 14) outside the football stadiums, i.e. for public viewings, among other things. When the application was reviewed, which every applicant goes through, he failed because the security authorities had him on their radar.

A few weeks ago, the IS offshoot published a video game-style image on one of its channels showing a man in a stadium with an automatic weapon. Security sources said in May that this was “part of the ongoing propaganda campaign to stir up unrest and trigger lone perpetrators.”