German Police in Lower Saxony raid Islamist radicals

Police in Lower Saxony, Germany, have conducted extensive raids against so-called Salafists who profess a radical form of Islam. The action targeted the association of the German-language Islamic Circle (DIK).
Authorities believe the materials they have now obtained will serve as the basis for banning any associations regarded as headquarters for German Salafism. The NDR radio station reported the news today.
Around 400 police officers intervened Wednesday evening in the DIK's main mosque in Hildesheim, located about 20 kilometers from Hannover. Police also searched the homes of the association's top representatives.
The raid also involved the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), which functions as a civilian counter-intelligence service whose main tasks include tracking rightist, leftist and religious extremists. "DIK-German Hildesheim is the headquarters of the radical Salafist scene," said Lower Saxony State Interior Minister Boris Pistorius.
"After months of preparation we have, through this raid, made an important step toward disabling this group," Pistorius told the press. DIK representatives have held seminars where they have preached hatred against "infidels" and tried to radicalize their supporters.
According to Pistorius, the DIK has also urged German Muslims to join the terrorist organization DAESH (the so-called Islamic State). Nineteen out of 74 people from Lower Saxony who have traveled to Syria to join DAESH, according to the authorities, were radicalized at the DIK Hildesheim mosque.
Salafists are adherents of a radical school of thought that advocates a return to early forms of Islam and strict adherence to Sharia law. According to the BfV more than 8 000 adherents of Salafism currently live in Germany.
Don't miss:
- German Police say Munich shooter was an ultra-right supporter proud of sharing a birthdate with Hitler
- German Police: Aggressor in Munich attack inspired by right-wing extremist Breivik, not Islamism
- An 18-year-old man with dual German-Iranian citizenship has shot nine people dead, injured 21 in Munich
- Germany: Number of refugees arriving has significantly fallen
- Germany: Romani refugees at risk of deportation occupy cathedral in Regensburg
- Germany: Untraditional theater production in Berlin plays with anti-migrant prejudice
- Germany: Immigrants do not commit more crime than anybody else
- Germany: Roma at risk of being returned to the Balkans continue to protest
- Germany: Romani refugees occupy Berlin memorial to Roma murdered during Nazism, police intervene
- Germany: British neo-Nazis tweet photo of themselves giving the Nazi salute at Buchenwald
- Germany: Trial of right-wing extremist Lutz Bachmann of Pegida begins
- Iraqi Christians who refused asylum offer from Czech Republic will remain in Germany to seek asylum there
- Germany sends Christian refugees back to Czech Republic for deportation to Iraq
- Germany: Neo-Nazis and populists march in Berlin waving fake Third Reich flags and those of Russia
Related articles:
- German Government Commissioner on Antisemitism: COVID-19 denial now a pretext for Holocaust revisionism
- Rajko Djurić, academic, author and former president of the International Romani Union, has passed away
- German police officers who joined neo-Nazi groups online are being disciplined and dismissed in one state
- VIDEO: European Roma Holocaust Memorial ceremony at Auschwitz was virtual this year, Slovak and Austrian Presidents spoke
- William Bila: Berlin's Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims of National Socialism must not be relocated, German railroad cannot be allowed to disrupt it
- Germany reorganizes special military unit because some of its personnel are members of the ultra-right
- Czech car manufacturer Škoda distances itself from video by German ultra-right rapper
- Commentary: The opponents of racism are racists - current and former Czech Presidents show their anti-democratic colors to the world
- German counter-intelligence head says right-wing extremism and terrorism are the country's biggest threat
- Germany: Trial begins of right-wing extremist charged with murder of local politician
- Volkswagen apologizes for racist advertisement, claiming it was "unintentional"
- Germany: AfD press spokesperson fired after claiming to be of "Aryan" origin and espousing fascism
Tags:
Germany, Islamismus, Islámský stát, Policie, RadikalizaceHEADLINE NEWS
