Germany Raises Terror Threat Alert: Officials Warn of Risks From Russia and Islamist Extremists

Germany has officially raised its terror threat level, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt announced, according to Reuters. He said potential targets could include German infrastructure, government institutions and individual citizens.

"The threat of terrorist attacks in Germany must be constantly factored in. Plans to strike our country are clearly visible," the minister said.

Last month, Dobrindt had already noted that Germany is increasingly facing hybrid attacks from Russia, including espionage, sabotage and disinformation campaigns. According to a June report by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the country's domestic intelligence agency, Islamist terrorism and rising antisemitism also pose serious dangers.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government plans to expand the powers of Germany's intelligence services by the end of summer. According to Bloomberg, the cabinet wants to give intelligence agencies the authority to intervene directly in particularly dangerous situations, rather than merely gathering and analyzing information. Dobrindt explained that in urgent cases, intelligence officers would be granted the right to search homes if police are unable to respond in time.

Germany has already experienced several attacks in recent years. The deadliest took place shortly before Christmas 2024 in Magdeburg, where Saudi doctor Taleb al-Abdulmohsen drove a rented car into a crowd at a Christmas market, killing six people and injuring around a hundred. In June this year, a court sentenced him to life imprisonment.

That same year, Syrian national Issa al Hassan, inspired by Islamic State ideology, attacked people with a knife at a festival in Solingen in western Germany, killing three and wounding ten others. A court sentenced him to life in prison last year for the crime.

Source: novinky.cz