Germany on Thursday banned an Islamist Salafist group and hundreds of police raided more than 70 homes, schools and mosques across the country in a clamp-down on “dangerous extremists”.
Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich banned one particular network, known as “Millatu Ibrahim”, for “working to undermine Germany’s constitutional order.” Authorities are also investigating two other networks, called Dawa FFM and “The True Religion”, with a view to a possible ban. According to documents seen by AFP, the interior ministry decided to ban Millatu Ibrahim, based in the western town of Solingen, after an explosive vest was found during a search of premises in Berlin last month. “The vest is a further sign of the organisation’s underlying aggression,” the papers said.
The ministry said an inflammatory speech by one of the network’s preachers helped spark violent clashes between the Islamic Salafist community and police in Solingen on May 1. It had also found audio and video messages in which the group proclaimed war against democracy and threatened “unbelievers”.
Around 850 police raided more than 70 different premises in seven different regional states, targetting flats, mosques, schools and local associations. The biggest operations took place in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, the ministry said.