The police searched several properties in Braunschweig and Berlin on Wednesday morning. The Lower Saxony Interior Ministry has banned the Salafist association German-speaking Muslim Community (DMG) in Braunschweig and is closing the associated mosque. The “Spiegel” was the first to report on this.
The state police of Lower Saxony and Berlin were deployed. According to information from security circles obtained by WELT, a raid was also carried out on Ahmad A.’s home in the capital. He goes by the name Abul Baraa and is one of the best-known Salafist preachers in Germany.
In the past, Abul Baraa had contacts in the “violent jihadist Salafism”. Constitutional protection officers emphasize that his sermons construct “a conspiracy of the Western world against Islam”. For him, Muslims are basically victims. The Salafist’s home has already been searched in the past – among other things on suspicion of financing terrorism and fraud with Corona emergency aid.
According to the report by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Lower Saxony, the DMG Braunschweig plays a central role in the supra-regional network of extremist Salafist activities. The mosque has been considered a hub for the scene for years. At first, it was mainly the preacher Muhamed Ciftci who gathered young believers around him here.
Ciftci also maintained ties with the icon of the scene, Pierre Vogel, until they broke off relations. He was connected with members of the Sauerland group, which was discovered in 2007 while planning a chemical attack. He had previously travelled to Mecca with several members of the cell. Ciftci later explained that the members he knew were “not violent at all as long as they were with me”.
On Wednesday morning, numerous videos from some of the most widely-reaching Salafist influencers were still available on the DMG’s social media profiles. In addition to Abul Baraa, these include the preacher Ibrahim el Azzazi from North Rhine-Westphalia, who is being monitored by several constitutional protection agencies, and Abdul Alim Hamza from Bonn. He recently announced that he had discovered a tracking device on his car – apparently he is also in the sights of the domestic secret service. The DMG also published videos by Pierre Vogel on its YouTube channel. More than 100,000 people follow the Salafist association’s online profiles across various platforms.
In a current situation report on Islamism, the NRW Interior Ministry also mentioned the Braunschweig mosque. It is said to be carrying out “missionary activities in public spaces” and providing information stands through which “extremist Salafist books, brochures and flyers were distributed.”
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