Officials Warn of Possible Attacks A combination intelligence "chatter," a
suspicious video, and arrests along the Pakistani border have led authorities
to warn that the threat of terrorist attacks in Germany is real.
MARCO-URBAN.DE
August Hanning, alarmed.
Germany faced an elevated threat of terrorism on Friday because of its
involvement in Afghanistan, according to officials who say the risk of an
attack here is as high as it has ever been since September 11, 2001. "We are
alarmed," the normally mild-mannered August Hanning, Deputy Secretary at the
Federal Ministry of the Interior, told reporters on Thursday evening. Hanning
said the level of so-called "chatter" from intelligence sources reminded him of
the weeks just before September 11. German as well as foreign intelligence
agencies have received hints about plans, groups, and individual extremists who
may be planning an attack in Germany.
"We have moved fully into the target range of Islamist terror," said Hanning,
who used to lead Germany's intelligence service, the BND.
One source of concern for the government is a video that surfaced on the
Afghan-Pakistani border on June 9. The video -- which has since been broadcast
on ABC News in the United States -- shows the brother of a recently killed
Taliban commander, Mullah Dadullah, in front of a group of his hooded
followers, who crouch on the ground. What bothers German authorities about this
clip is that four groups of these men -- supposedly suicide bombers -- leave
Mansour Dadullah's presence to mount attacks in four separate countries:
Germany, Canada, the United States, and Great Britain. The supposed reason is
revenge for the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.
Supporting suspicion raised by this video -- which may just be propaganda --
is US intelligence arising from surveillance of known German extremists. Based
on US information, the German Interior Ministry believes at least 10 Islamist
radicals with roots in Germany are currently in Pakistani training camps. On
June 10, in fact, two Germans and one Kirghiz man were arrested along the
Afghan-Pakistani border on terrorism charges. Pakistani officials say they were
outfitted with satellite phones and radio devices and were either on their way
to or from a training camp. A German TV broadcaster, N24, reported that they
were planning suicide attacks in Germany.
Border security measures have been tightened as a result of the new
intelligence, according to German officials.
With reporting by Matthias Gebauer
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