Radical vicious circle: the danger of Islamist terrorism is greater than it has been in a long time

According to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the threat of Islamist terrorist attacks in Germany is currently significantly greater than in previous years. “The risk of jihadist attacks is greater than it has been in a long time,” the chairman of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, said in Berlin. According to him, the security authorities are processing more and more relevant information.

The head of the domestic secret service cites various reasons for the increased risk of attacks – including by individual radicalized perpetrators. The Islamic Taliban who came to power in Afghanistan promoted the jihadist idea as a whole.

Viennese terrorists are very popular
Another factor is the strengthening of the terrorist militia Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISPK), especially in Pakistan and Afghanistan. This is the group that also set its sights on goals in Vienna around the turn of the year. The terrorist cells in Europe are well organised, DSN boss Omar Haijawi-Pirchner recently explained, but the biggest threat in Austria last year was radicalized individual perpetrators.

Anyone who wants a “theocracy” and screams for it must be “locked up or deported,” Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) emphasized during the presentation of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution’s report for 2023 in May . “Such radicals have no place in a free society.”

Haijawi-Pirchner’s German colleague Haldenwang explained that Quran burnings in Scandinavia and the Israeli military operation against the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip had also helped “initiate radicalization spirals.”

The Mannheim shock runs deep
Haldenwang told dpa: “The situation in the Middle East after the Hamas terrorist attack is certainly another reason for the intensification of the threat of Islamist terrorism.” It is also clear: “Germany is more at the center of jihadists’ attention than other European countries because our “The country is considered one of the most important supporters of Israel next to the US.”

At the end of May, a 25-year-old Afghan wounded five participants in a meeting of the anti-Islam movement Pax Europa and a police officer in Mannheim with a knife. Officer Rouven Laur, 29, later died from his injuries. Investigators suspect an Islamic extremist motive for the crime.

The chairman of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution said his office had never underestimated the threat of Islamist terrorism, but had repeatedly pointed out that “the security situation is very tense.”

International cooperation must secure emerging markets
In the past, radical Islamists have repeatedly used major events as an opportunity to take action. The European Football Championship will start in Germany in the coming days. An international association of police authorities must guarantee safety – the so-called ‘International Police Cooperation Center’ (IPCC) in Neuss.

“It is the national and international hub for information, so that things can be done quickly in the event of an emergency,” the German Interior Ministry said. According to Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD), the safety of the fans, the teams and everyone in the country is the “top priority”.

Triad of danger
However, at present it is hardly possible for Haldenwang to name the biggest threat to security. “We are currently dealing with three: the threat of Islamist terrorism, the heated social climate, especially due to right-wing extremism with the issues of xenophobia and Muslim phobia, and the influence and espionage activities of foreign states.” is the threat of increasingly violent left-wing extremism.