The appearance of a high-ranking Taliban official in Cologne surprised – and also outraged the Foreign Office. Previously unknown organizers apparently faked a religious event and security authorities were unable to intervene.
The appearance of a high-ranking representative of the radical Islamist Taliban regime in Cologne caused outrage in Germany. Abdul Bari Omar, the head of the Afghan Food and Drug Authority, spoke to compatriots in a mosque in the Chorweiler district of Cologne on Thursday evening and praised his government. The Foreign Office in Berlin condemned this “in the strongest possible terms” in a statement. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the Taliban appearance was “completely unacceptable and should be strongly condemned.” Taliban officials, Faeser continued, “have absolutely no place in Germany.”