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Germany on High Alert
Posted by Ryan Mauro

Germany has gone on high alert until next year due to a suspected impending terrorist attack on the country. It has been reported that the Reichstag parliament building is one target, but it could easily be any number of shopping centers, airports or trains. This plot may or may not materialize, but the country will have to remain on guard for the foreseeable future, as dozens of its residents have traveled for terrorist training, and Al-Qaeda has its sights set on Germany.

The German Interior Minister has confirmed that there are “concrete indications” of a terrorist attack headed Germany’s way, the first time the country has used such language. The Germans received information from a terrorist informant overseas that six operatives have been dispatched to carry out the attacks, including a German, a Turk, and a North African. According to his information, two of the operatives already arrived in Berlin between six and eight weeks ago. However, the informant says the attack is planned for February or March, contradicting other intelligence claiming the end of the month was the timeframe.

Germany also received intelligence from the United States two weeks ago about a radical Shiite terrorist group in India called “Saif.” The group has supposedly linked up with Al-Qaeda and sent two operatives to carry out attacks in Germany. They are said to be arriving in the United Arab Emirates on November 22, where other terrorists will give them new travel papers. A senior German intelligence official says there is additional intelligence which demonstrates that threat reporting has grown in quantity and specificity recently.

“We are pretty sure that there is a great danger and an attack is imminent in Germany,” the anonymous official said. A report by Spiegel Online alleges that the terrorists want to carry out a shooting rampage on the Reichstag and take hostages.

The FBI has identified one of the brains behind the terror plot as a man named Mushtaq Altaf bin-Khadri and Dawood Ibrahim as the smuggler. Ilyas Kashmiri is also said to be involved.

In October, the U.S. State Department issued a travel warning for Americans in Europe after intelligence was received about planned Mumbai-style attacks in France, the United Kingdom, and Germany. Eight Germans and two Brits were said to be at the center of the planned campaign, but a recent report says it included 25 members of Al-Qaeda separated into cells of three to five operatives. Ten of these operatives have been killed in CIA drone strikes in Pakistan. This indicates that Al-Qaeda is dispatching its recruits to Europe at a quick pace.

Terrorist organizations are determined to strike Germany because of the nearly 5,000 German soldiers serving in Afghanistan. A confidential report by the Federal Criminal Agency states that “after the U.S., Germany is only the second country whose population is being addressed so directly and in the national language.” Germany has been the subject of various public threats from radical Islamic terrorists in Pakistan, some of which had specific timeframes and claimed an attack was imminent, particularly around the September 2009 elections. No attacks followed, but the authorities believe the credible intelligence makes this time different. At the least, Germany has a major problem with homegrown extremism on its hands.

About 200 Germans have received terrorist training with 50 to 100 of them having returned home since. There is even a “village” in North Waziristan in Pakistan where the Islamic Jihad Union, an offshoot of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, is housing its German recruits. In April 2009, four German members of the group went on trial for planning car bombings. The terrorist group has also proudly shown off these recruits in numerous videos, with a German resident named Abu Talha making direct threats. His real name is said to be Bekkay Harrach and he arrived in Pakistan in 2007 through Iran.

Dieter Farwick, the former Director of Germany’s Federal Armed Forces’ Intelligence Office and Global Editor-in-Chief of the World Security Network, told FrontPage that he hopes the latest threat makes Germans understand the threat towards them.

“In my view, the threat is increasing. As more converts are trained, the higher the threat will become. The majority of Germans turn their back to this danger. I hope we do not need a dramatic wake-up call to change this attitude,” Farwick said.

The specific information about this latest terrorist plot is being taken seriously. The past few months show that Al-Qaeda and its allies are working very hard to strike Europe in the near-term. They may not succeed this time, but they will keep trying for as long as they exist.