Germany apprehensive of growing threat of Salafism
Salafism is on the rise in Germany, giving security agencies new reasons to worry.
This comes amid a
series of changes that make it necessary for the authorities to impose strict
measures to curb violence and prevent dubious financing for different groups.
Berlin has to keep its
eyes widely opened while the number of extremists keeps rising. It also
receives an increasing number of those returning from Iraq and Syria. Think tanks
affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and backed by Turkey are also making
their presence felt across Germany.
Scary
statistics
German authorities
refused the return of former members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
(ISIS) for a long time.
However, in May 2019, a
German court ruled for the return of the children of these former ISIS members.
The same court then ruled for the return of former ISIS male and female members.
So far, a third of
those who had travelled to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS had returned home.
The German Interior
Ministry said a total of 1,060 people had already returned home from the two
countries.
There is also an
increase in the number of those affiliated to radical Islamist organizations in
Germany.
In July this year, the
Interior Ministry estimated the number of those linked to extremist Islamist
organizations at 26,560.
The ministry also
expects the number of those affiliated with ISIS and al-Qaeda to increase in
the coming period.
It expressed fears
against potential lone-wolf attacks by the same affiliates.
On August 19, an
extremist collided with speeding vehicles on a highway, leaving several people
injured and causing a state of fear.
