Rare picture of Hans-Georg Maassen, the head of Germany’s BfV domestic intelligence agency entering a secure site for talks with intelligence experts from around Europe
There could be as many as 7,000 Muslim extremists living in Germany by year end, according to Hans-Georg Maassen, the head of Germany’s BfV domestic intelligence agency (German: Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz).
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) is the Federal Republic of Germany‘s domestic security agency. Together with the Landesämter für Verfassungsschutz (LfV) at the state level, it is tasked with intelligence-gathering on threats concerning the democratic order, the existence and security of the federation or one of its states, and the peaceful coexistence of peoples; with counter-intelligence; and with protective security and counter-sabotage. The BfV reports to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. While the BfV uses all kinds of surveillance technology and infiltration, they mostly use open sources.
Within the BfV the secretive unit called “Department 6” is in charge of Islamic extremism and terrorism.
Current BfV estimates peg the number of Islamic extremists living in Germany now at around 6,300 – with 450 German extremists in Syria and Iraq . According to German authorities the majority are German nationals, with about 30 percent coming from a number of nations, which include Turkey, Morocco and Bosnia just to name a few.
The BfV estimates that there are currently around 43,000 Islamists in Germany overall, with 1,000 being of serious concern, of these 130 are under round-the-clock surveillance, according to sources.
AP quoted a security official as saying that around a quarter of them are “converts to Islam.”
Maassen said young Muslims in particular are attracted to Islamic State (IS) because of its “brutality.”
IS has become infamous for beheading captives and launching suicide attacks against both civilian and military targets amongst other things.
The German domestic intelligence chief also says the group formally known as IS, seems to be “more authentic” than Al-Qaeda.
“There is a link between the successes IS has had so far in Iraq and the activities here in Germany and the propaganda and canvassing activities aimed at young jihadists,” said Maassen, which was reported by Reuters. “The Islamic State is, so to speak, the ‘in’ thing – much more attractive than the Nusra Front, the al Qaeda spin-off in Syria.”
“What attracts people is the intense brutality, the radicalism and rigor. That suggests to them that it is a more authentic organization even than al Qaeda,” he said. “Al Qaeda fades besides the Islamic State when it comes to brutality,” the BfV chief added.
See video: Germany could be home to 7000 radical Islamic extremists http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzp4iDjsMjU
See video: Radical Salafist movement in Germany http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyKuSHU8CJY