March 13
German police has started a raid against German Salafists in the States of Hesse and North-Rhine Westphalia. The German police focused its raid at cities such as Frankfurt am Main, Oberhausen, Gladbeck, Solingen und Wuppertal. The Ministry of Interior declared that more than twenty investigations have been initiated against suspects. The Minister of Interior Hans-Peter Friedrich (CSU) describes the raid as an act against violent extremist individuals and extremist associative structures. The Ministry has banned the associations DawaFFM (Invitation Frankfurt am Main) and Al Nusrah, which is a sub group of the banned Millatu Ibrahim. These groups have been suspected to send radicalized Muslims to Mali and Syria to fight for Jihad.
Having observed the German Salafist movement, the Ministry suspects Salafist groups to propagate an aggressive rhetoric against the free democratic basic order. It is said, that the number of Salafists in Germany has doubled up to a number of 4500.
Moreover, German police reports the arrest of two militant Islamists in the cities of Bonn and Essen. Enea B. and Marco G. are suspected to plan a plot against Markus Beisicht, leader of the right-wing extremist party Pro North-Rhine Westphalia. According to the police, weapons and explosive chemical materials were found in the apartments of the suspects. Security experts expect a list of persons, who have been targeted by Islamists.
The Minister of Interior Friedrich sees no correlation between the arrests and the raid. In 2012, Salafists and the right-wing extremist Pro NRW have been clashing in the city of Solingen after an anti-Islam cartoon campaign of Pro NRW.
