Germany: Islamist terror poses 'persistently high' risk

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 good contact" with the security authorities in Austria, where a foiled terror plot led to the cancellation of three Taylor Swift concerts.

What did the minister say?

Faeser spoke of a "serious Islamist threat" that had been seen in Vienna, where the music events had been due to take place.

"Our country is also the focus of jihadist organizations, especially IS and its currently most dangerous offshoot ISPK," said the minister.

"Islamist terrorist organizations, but also Islamist lone perpetrators who often radicalize largely on their own, are a constant danger," she emphasized.

"It is clear that we will not allow ourselves to be intimidated. But we take threats very seriously."

Faeser, speaking after a meeting with Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the BfV, in the western city of Cologne, said she was keen to promote new competencies for security authorities.

Intelligence chief underlines danger

Germany's domestic intelligence agency said that after Hamas' terror attack on Israel on October 7, and Israel's subsequent invasion of the Gaza Strip, the "Islamic State" militant organization and its offshoots, as well as Hamas and Hezbollah, were trying to promote radicalization in Europe via the internet.

There is an "abstractly high risk," BfV vice president Sinan Selen also stressed.

Even individual perpetrators and small groups are influenced by Islamist terrorist groups on the internet and could be supported in their plans, he said. 

Although events like the European Football Championship in Germany in June, and the Olympic Games in France from July through August have ended without incident, Selen warned that the "security situation is not over."

He added that fighting terrorism could only work in an international context.

Austrian authorities had previously reported on the foiled attack that led to the cancellation of the Taylor Swift concerts.

Police arrested a 19-year-old main suspect as well as a second young man. Police said they had found explosives and weapons near his home in Ternitz, Lower Austria, about 80 kilometers south of Vienna.

The 19-year-old Austrian with North Macedonian roots had intended to kill himself and a large crowd outside the stadium, said Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, the head of the Directorate General for Public Security (DSN).

He said the main suspect had sworn allegiance to the current leader of the extremist militia "Islamic State" (IS). According to US media reports, the decisive clue that led to the suspect came from a foreign secret service.

String of attacks, plots in Germany

Islamist extremists have carried out several attacks in Germany in the past decade. The deadliest by far was a truck rampage at a Berlin Christmas market in December 2016 in which 12 people were killed.

 A German court in June sentenced a 15-year-old boy to four years in prison for planning an Islamist attack on a Christmas market in the western city of Leverkusen.

In another case, two boys and two girls aged 15 to 16 were arrested at Easter on suspicion of planning an Islamist attack in the same part of western Germany.

Investigators in January arrested three people over an alleged plot to target the cathedral in Cologne on New Year's Eve.

rc/wmr (dpa, AFP)