Government & Politics

Security questions over Christmas market attack in Magdeburg The attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg has raised questions about public safety and intelligence gaps in Germany. Police have described the suspect as 'atypical,' while experts have also blamed social media.

(Deutsche Welle) German security forces faced a series of difficult questions at Saturday’s press conference in Magdeburg. Friday night’s attack, in which Talib A.*, a 50-year-old Saudi man, rammed a car into a crowd at a busy Christmas market in the Saxony-Anhalt […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

‘Insane’ Magdeburg Christmas market attack turns up heat on Germany’s politicians Reports that suspect was a refugee from Saudi Arabia who hated Muslims raise complicated questions during German election campaign.

(Politico) The German government is reeling from an attack on a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg that saw at least five people killed when a car apparently driven by an “Islamophobic” Saudi Arabian refugee plowed into Friday evening crowds. With […]

Government & Politics

Deadly Magdeburg Christmas market attack shakes Germany as election looms With voters going to the polls in February, the tragedy ramps up concerns about security.

(Politico) A driver plowed a car at high speed into crowds of people at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg, adding further tension to an election campaign already riven by a bitter debate over migration. Right-wing parties seized […]

Holidays

German police foil planned Islamist terror attack on Augsburg Christmas market The suspect, an asylum seeker, was arrested after surveillance revealed suspicious online activity

(European Conservative) A 37-year-old Iraqi asylum seeker has been arrested in Augsburg, Germany, for allegedly planning a terrorist attack on the city’s popular Christmas market, local police confirmed. Authorities acted after discovering evidence that the suspect, named as Ali Al-G, had scouted […]

Government & Politics

Germany’s Faeser calls for ‘vigilance’ at Christmas markets German security authorities said that while there were no indications of a 'concrete' threat, the country's popular Christmas markets could be a target for Islamist terrorist groups.

(Deutsche Welle) German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Thursday called for “great vigilance” at Germany’s popular Christmas markets. However, she stressed that there was no “concrete” evidence of a threat. What did Faeser say about the threat to Christmas markets? Faeser said […]

News: Europe

Germany and Europe are once again ‘Islamic State’ targets The Solingen knife attack has sparked renewed concerns about 'Islamic State' targeting Germany and Europe. Experts warn of a new wave of IS-linked violence driven by Middle East conflicts.

(Deutsche Welle) The so-called “Islamic State” (IS) extremist group has claimed responsibility for the knife attack in Solingen. According to Amaq, the mouthpiece of IS, the attack was carried out in “revenge for Muslims in Palestine and elsewhere” and targeted a “group […]

Government & Politics

Germany: Islamist terror poses ‘persistently high’ risk German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has warned that Germany remains a target for Islamist terrorists. Her comments follow the cancellation of three Austrian concerts by US pop star Taylor Swift.

(Deutsche Welle) German security officials on Monday said the threat of Islamist terrorism in the country remains high, with several groups seeking to radicalize recruits amid turmoil in the Middle East. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said German intelligence services were in “very […]

Interfaith

Germany on guard against terrorism Against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war and one-off attacks closer to home, German authorities are confronting a 'complex threat situation.' Some observers warn against exaggerating the danger.

(Deutsche Welle) A handful of isolated but high-profile incidents have put politically motivated crime high on Germany’s security agenda. The renewed fears follow a German tourist getting stabbed to death in Paris last weekend, allegedly by a man with a history of criminal […]

Law Enforcement

Is Islamist terror a threat to Germany? The arrest of two terror suspects once again raises questions about the scope of the terrorist threat to Germany. It also brings back memories of the 2016 Christmas market attack.

(Deutsche Welle) The most recent arrest of two terror suspects in Germany has raised the specter of Islamist terror in Germany — despite intensified efforts to prevent such an attack in recent years. Two men had intended to kill “an unspecified number of people” […]

Health & Medicine

Germany: Bavaria train attacker handed 14-year jail sentence The 28-year-old pulled a knife on four passengers on a high-speed train in the southern state of Bavaria last November. The trial focused on whether his attack was motivated by Islamic extremism or schizophrenia.

(Deutsche Welle) The man who carried out a knife attack on a German high-speed train was sentenced to 14 years in prison on Friday. A court in Munich found that Abdalrahman A. was culpable despite claims he was mentally ill at the time. […]

Government & Politics

Does Germany’s special network to prevent Islamist extremists’ attacks work? Political and religious extremism has long been seen as a threat to democracy in Germany. The Counter Terrorism Center is where agencies and police network to prevent Islamist extremist attacks. Is it effective?

(Deutsche Welle) December 19, 2016, was a particularly dark day for Germany’s Joint Counter Terrorism Center. That was the day when the terrorist Anis Amri steered a stolen truck into a crowd of people at the Christmas market on Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz. Twelve […]

News: Europe

5 years later, Germany remembers victims of Berlin Christmas market terror attack On December 19, 2016, Islamist attacker Anis Amri drove a stolen truck through a crowd in central Berlin, killing and injuring dozens. Five years later, the background to the attack remains unclear.

(Deutsche Welle) The bells of Berlin’s Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church on Breitscheidplatz will ring 13 times this Sunday at exactly 8:02 p.m., once for each of the victims of the 2016 terror attack at a nearby Christmas market. The time marks the […]

Government & Politics

Berlin Christmas market attack made possible by ‘serious’ errors, report finds Bureaucratic failures and critical misjudgment of the attacker's behavior made the 2016 terrorist attack possible, a Berlin parliament committee report concluded.

(Deutsche Welle) A special committee of the Berlin state parliament released its comprehensive report into the December 2016 Christmas market terror attack on Monday. The attack at the Breitscheidplatz market was the most serious act of Islamist terrorism in Germany to date. The attacker, Anis […]

News: Europe

Islamists in Germany: Quiet, but dangerous A stabbing spree in the German city of Würzburg has renewed focus on the threat of Islamism, even if the attacker's motive remains unclear.

(Deutsche Welle) Last week’s knife attack in the Bavarian city of Würzburg left three people dead and seven injured — five of them seriously. The suspect is a man from Somalia whose asylum application had been rejected. Police are investigating his motives, […]

Law Enforcement

Berlin: Salafist group outlawed after police raids Authorities in the German capital have announced a ban on the radical Islamist group Jama'atu Berlin following a series of dawn raids.

(Deutsche Welle) Berlin’s Senate has announced on Twitter that it has banned the “jihadist-Salafist association Jama’atu Berlin,” also known as Tauhid Berlin. The tweet Thursday said police in Berlin and Brandenburg had carried out early-morning searches of properties belonging to the group’s members. A […]

Clerics & Preachers

Abu Walaa, the preacher guilty of supporting ‘Islamic State’ terrorism The trial of suspected 'Islamic State' recruiter Abu Walaa has lasted three and a half years in the German city of Celle. He was sentenced to over 10 years in prison.

(Deutsche Welle) Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 11 1/2 years for Ahmad Abdulaziz Abdullah A., also known as Abu Walaa. They said the defendant, who was born in Iraq, was the head of an “Islamic State” (IS) network and worked to […]

News: Europe

Berlin remembers victims of Christmas market terror attack Mourners have gathered in the German capital to pay respects to those who died in the 2016 terrorist attack. This year's ceremony took place in the absence of Christmas markets.

(Deutsche Welle) Over 100 people gathered in Berlin on Saturday to mourn and remember the 12 victims of the 2016 Islamist attack on a Christmas market in the German capital. At 8:02 p.m. — the exact time of the attack — church […]