terrorism
Protection of the Constitution: Do not underestimate the threat from IS
An IS flag flies in Rawa, Iraq, in 2014. Although the terrorist organization in Syria and Iraq is considered largely defeated, the organization as a whole is far from smashed, says the President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. photo
© Uncredited/AP/dpa
Because the IS is gaining ground in Afghanistan, German security authorities urge vigilance. You have “all possible scenarios in view” – including self-radicalized lone perpetrators.
The branch of the terrorist network Islamic State (IS) in Afghanistan is also increasingly preoccupied with the protection of the constitution. “The strengthening of this group in Afghanistan increases the threat situation in Germany,” said the President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, the German Press Agency.
Although the IS in Syria and Iraq is considered to be largely defeated, the entire organization is far from smashed. “Among the various offshoots of IS, the ‘Islamic State of Khorasan Province’, or ISPK for short, stands out in particular.”
German security authorities vigilant
This group is in an armed conflict with the Taliban in Afghanistan, but is also looking “towards Europe,” emphasized Haldenwang. In order to underscore its claim to leadership within the terror network, ISPK relies on attacks against “infidels” in the West.
The fact that Germany is also within the group’s target range is shown by the case of the two young people against whom the Federal Public Prosecutor had brought charges a few weeks ago for membership or support of a terrorist organization. Attorney General Peter Frank said in March that regional IS offshoots “above all the so-called Islamic State province of Khorasan” were causing him great concern.
The security authorities in Germany are vigilant and, in view of the continuing high threat posed by Islamist terrorism, “have an eye on all possible scenarios,” Haldenwang told the dpa. Among these scenarios, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution counts both self-radicalized individual perpetrators and people guided by IS.
Currently trial in Hamburg
The case before the State Protection Senate of the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Hamburg also shows that supporters of ISPK not only network locally and within the members of a certain exile community. The accused are a 16-year-old German Kosovar from North Rhine-Westphalia and an 18-year-old Russian citizen who came to Germany with his family as a small child and is based in Bremerhaven. The two youths are in custody.