A few days ago, it was announced that the German State Security Service and the Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor General’s Office were able to achieve a successful investigation. The Austrian state security service in Vienna, from which the German authorities had received a tip-off, is also partly responsible for this success. According to the report, Austrian state security warned the German security authorities about a youth terrorist cell that was planning attacks on a church, reports the Austrian daily Der Standard.
The attack should ideally take place on a day like Ascension Day, when the church is well attended. However, people outside the church who were labelled as “kuffar”, i.e. unbelievers, were also to be killed. Cities such as Dortmund, Düsseldorf and Cologne were envisaged as possible targets. Four young people, two male and two female, from North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg had drawn up this plan for the attack. Since the Easter weekend, all four have been in custody on suspicion of terrorism.
As Der Standard further reports, one of the young people in particular is said to have been known to the German authorities for some time. She had attracted attention due to plans to travel to the Islamic State (IS). As reported by public broadcaster WDR, it was primarily storage media that was confiscated during the raids by the police over the Easter weekend. However, a machete and a dagger were also found on the second young person.
The German news agency dpa reported, citing security circles, that the young people had also been radicalised by Islamist influencers. Names and details were not given. In social media such as TikTok, however, it is mainly Salafist figures from Germany who achieve a high online circulation and thus lure young people in order to radicalise them, the Standard report emphasises.
As recently as November, two 15 and 16-year-old teenagers were arrested in Germany on suspicion of terrorism, sympathising with IS and allegedly planning an attack on a Christmas market, as reported by Focus online. They are in custody in North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg. However, the radicalisation does not appear to be limited to young people in Germany, but apparently extends as far as Switzerland. Three young people were also arrested there on suspicion of terrorism and remanded in custody.