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Heightened alert

July 1, 2011

Germany's interior ministry has reported a rise in Islamist extremist threats living in the country. Left-wing violence remained a concern as well, according to the country's intelligence agency.

https://p.dw.com/p/11neo
A silhouette of a terrorist militant against the German flag
Germany's intelligence agency has its eyes on thousands of 'threats'Image: DW/Fotolia-Oleg_Zabielin/Cmon/FelixPergande

Islamist extremism is growing in Germany, the country's interior minister warned Friday.

Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said German intelligence agents had assessed the number of Islamist extremists last year at 37,470, a rise of 1,200 over the previous year.

Friedrich said Germany's intelligence agency was particularly wary of a branch of fundamentalist Islam known as Salafism.

"Not every Salafist is a terrorist," said Heinz Fromm, the head of Germany's intelligence agency, "but just about every terrorist we know about has had contact with Salafists or is a Salafist."

Fromm added that the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden did not appear to have abated the threat of terrorism.

"There have been authenticated declarations from Al Qaeda. And of course we have to assume that revenge will play a role in future attacks," Fromm said.

Fromm also warned against the threat of extreme left-wing violence.

"Currently we must also fear that violence is increasing on both sides. It is, in part, because violence is more often being met with violence than in previous years."

The report put the number of leftist extremists in Germany as just under the number of Islamist threats, at 32,200.

Author: Marcel Fürstenau, David Levitz (AFP, dpa, EPD)

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