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CRIME

German government warns of ‘elevated’ risk of far-right attacks after anti-Semitic shooting

There is an "elevated" risk of more far-right attacks in Germany after two people were killed by a gunman targeting a synagogue in the city of Halle this week, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer warned Friday.

Published: 12 October 2019 11:11 CEST
German government warns of 'elevated' risk of far-right attacks after anti-Semitic shooting
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer on ZDF public television on October 11th. Photo: DPA

“The threat posed by right-wing anti-semitism and terrorism is elevated in Germany,” Seehofer said on ZDF public television.

This means such an attack could happen “at any moment,” he added.

Seehofer said there are an estimated 24,000 far right extremists in Germany. He added that half of them are considered potentially violent with “a very high affinity for firearms.”

Seehofer's warning came two days after Stephan Balliet, a 27-year-old loner, was arrested for killing two people after trying to gain entry to a synagogue in the eastern town of Halle where dozens of worshippers were marking Yom Kippur.

Though he failed to batter his way into the building, the assailant, armed with four apparently home-made rifles and grenades, killed a female passer-by and then shot dead a man who tried to take refuge in a kebab restaurant.

Police eventually captured Balliet — who had four kilos (nine pounds) of explosives in his car — after a gun battle that left him wounded.

Earlier Friday, a spokesman for the federal prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe said Balliet had confessed to the assault and confirmed ”far-right and anti-Semitic motives.”

Given the range of weapons he had on his person, the death toll could have been far higher had Balliet managed to force his way inside the synagogue.

He filmed and live-streamed the 35-minute assault as he raved at Jews and denied the Holocaust. He also published an online manifesto expressing anti-Semitic sentiments.

“This manifesto appeared on the internet the day after his act,” said Seehofer, who added that synagogues and other Jewish venues would in future be better protected.

The minister announced the creation of new security service posts to that end and added that the government would swiftly enact a ban on six small far right groups.

“We are extremely alert on this matter,” he insisted.

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CRIME

Germany arrests Syrian man accused of plotting to kill soldiers

German authorities said Friday they had arrested a 27-year-old Syrian man who allegedly planned an Islamist attack on army soldiers using two machetes in Bavaria.

Published: 13 September 2024 11:17 CEST
Germany arrests Syrian man accused of plotting to kill soldiers

The suspect, an “alleged follower of a radical Islamic ideology”, was arrested on Thursday on charges of planning “a serious act of violence endangering the state”.

The man had acquired two heavy knives “around 40 centimetres (more than one foot) in length” in recent days, prosecutors in Munich said.

He planned to “attack Bundeswehr soldiers” in the city of Hof in northern Bavaria during their lunch break, aiming “to kill as many of them as possible”, prosecutors said.

“The accused wanted to attract attention and create a feeling of insecurity among the population,” they said.

German security services have been on high alert over the threat of Islamist attacks, in particular since the Gaza war erupted on October 7th with the Hamas attacks on Israel.

Police shot dead a man in Munich this month after he opened fire on officers in what was being treated as a suspected “terrorist attack” on the Israeli consulate in Munich.

The shootout fell on the anniversary of the kidnap and killing of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games by Palestinian militants.

The 18-year-old suspect had previously been investigated by authorities in his home country Austria on suspicion of links to terrorism but the case had been dropped.

The incident capped a string of attacks in Germany, which have stirred a sense of insecurity in Germany and fed a bitter debate of immigration.

Three people were killed last month in a suspected Islamist stabbing at a festival in the western city of Solingen.

READ ALSO: ‘Ban asylum seekers’ – How Germany is reacting to Solingen attack

The suspect in the attack, which was claimed by the Islamic State group, was a Syrian man who had been slated for deportation from Germany.

A federal interior ministry spokesman said if an Islamist motive was confirmed in the latest foiled attack, it would be “further evidence of the high threat posed by Islamist terrorism in Germany, which was recently demonstrated by the serious crimes in Mannheim and the attack in Solingen, but also by acts that were fortunately prevented by the timely intervention of the security authorities”.

The Solingen stabbing followed a knife attack in the city of Mannheim in May, which left a policeman dead, and which had also been linked to Islamism by officials.

Germany has responded to the attacks by taking steps to tighten immigration controls and knife laws.

READ ALSO: Debt, migration and the far-right – the big challenges facing Germany this autumn

The government has announced new checks along all of its borders and promised to speed up deportations of migrants who have no right to stay in Germany.

The number of people considered Islamist extremists in Germany fell slightly from 27,480 in 2022 to 27,200 last year, according to a report from the federal domestic intelligence agency.

But Interior Minister Nancy Faeser warned in August that “the threat posed by Islamist terrorism remains high”.

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