German authorities concerned over potential jihadist terrorism

Supporters of the Islamic State terrorist group have clashed last week with Kurdish Yazidis in North Rhine-Westphalia, the state housing Germany's largest Muslim population.

The violence -- which comes amid threats by a German jihadi to blow up an American nuclear weapons storage facility in Germany -- has counter-terrorism officials concerned that radical Muslims are deliberately exploiting the ethnic and religious tensions in the Middle East to stir up trouble on the streets of Europe.

German authorities have long warned of the threat posed by Salafism, a radically anti-Western ideology that seeks to impose Islamic Shariah law in Germany and other parts of Europe.

Membership in Islamic extremist groups in Germany rose to 43,185 in 2013, up from 42,550 in 2012, according to German intelligence estimates. The number of Salafists in Germany rose to 5,500 in 2013, up from 4,500 in 2012, and 3,800 in 2011.

Although Salafists make up only a fraction of the estimated 4.3 million Muslims in Germany, authorities are increasingly concerned that most of those attracted to Salafi ideology are impressionable young Muslims who are susceptible to the notion of perpetrating terrorism in the name of Islam.

North Rhine-Westphalia is home to the largest concentration (about 1,500) of Salafists in Germany. The region is also home to most of the estimated 60,000 Yazidis who live in Germany.

The area around Herford has long been a magnet for Salafists, and mosques in the town are known to convert young people to Salafism. "Even the operator of a fitness center is suspected of wanting to inspire young Germans, under the guise of sports, for Salafism," an intelligence official was quoted as saying.

More than a dozen men from the Herford area have joined the Islamic State terrorist group in Syria and Iraq, and at least one, a 22-year-old German convert to Islam, is known to have been killed in the fighting.

On August 7, a German jihadi from the Westphalian city of Essen, who is believed to be fighting in Syria, threatened to bomb the American nuclear weapons storage facility situated near the city of Koblenz. The 27-year-old convert to Islam, who is known as Silvio K., also threatened to attack churches, government agencies and transport networks across Germany.

A German Interior Ministry spokesperson said that although "the threat is abstract, it may become real at any time." He said it proves that Germany "is still the focus of jihadist terrorism," especially from jihadis returning from Syria with combat experience and contacts to jihadist groups.

German commentators have reacted to the events in Herford with a sense of foreboding, with some saying that the war in Syria and Iraq has now arrived on Germany's doorstep.

טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו