Following a decision to ban the Islamist association known as the German-speaking Islamic Circle in Hildesheim e.V. (DIK), police in the central German city carried out large-scale raids early on Tuesday morning, local media reported.

In raids similar to those already carried out in July and November last year, several business premises, the dwellings of eight people linked to the group, as well the mosque belonging to the association were all searched on Tuesday.

'Blinded fanatics'

Boris Pistorius Lower Saxony's interior minister and Social Democrat (SPD), said that in banning the DIK association,"a hotspot of the radical Salafist scene in Germany had been shattered."



"This measure is expressly not directed against the many Muslims who live peacefully here," Pistorius added.

"But against blind fanatics who abuse this world religion for their own purposes and support terror organizations such as the self-proclaimed 'Islamic State' (IS) and its inhuman goals."

Founded in 2015, the DIK made no secret of its Salafist attitude. All religious activities are committed to "orientate themselves to the understanding of the first three generations from the Prophet Muhammad" - a particularly fundamentalist thread of Islam.

Berlin truck attacker Anis Amri was a member of Salifist circles in Hildesheim

According to German intelligence, more than 22 young men from the DIK circle have left Germany to join IS - either as fighters or as alleged aid convoys. Minors have also been radicalized by the banned association, authorities say.

Berlin attacker known to Islamist group

Among DIK's 300 members was nationally-active Salifist preacher "Abu Walaa." Considered among intelligence services as "IS' number one" in Germany he was arrested in November near Hildesheim and remains under investigation on suspicion of supporting a terrorist organization.

Anis Amri, the perpetrator of the deadly truck attack at a Berlin Christmas market in December, was also a member of Salafist circles in Hildesheim and is believed to have stayed in the DIK mosque.

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Chronology: Terror plots in Germany Ansbach, July 2016 In July, the "Islamic State" (IS) claimed responsibility for two attacks carried out by asylum seekers. 15 people were injured in a crowded wine bar next to the entrance to a music festival in the Bavarian town of Ansbach after a rejected Syrian asylum seeker detonated an explosive device. The man killed himself in the attack.

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Chronology: Terror plots in Germany Düsseldorf, May 2016 Three suspected members of the "Islamic State" terror network were arrested in the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg and Baden Württemberg. Authorities say two of the men planned to blow themselves up in downtown Düsseldorf, while the other attacker and a fourth jihadist arrested in France planned to target pedestrians with guns and explosive devices.

Chronology: Terror plots in Germany Essen, April 2016 Police arrested three people over a bomb blast that injured three people in a Sikh temple in Essen. The bomb detonated after a wedding party, blowing out windows and destroying a part of the building's exterior. A 16-year-old suspect turned himself in after police showed footage of the attack from a surveillance camera and special police units arrested another young suspect in his parents' home.

Chronology: Terror plots in Germany Hanover, February 2016 German-Moroccan Safia S. is charged with stabbing a police officer at the main train station in the northern city of Hanover. The 16-year-old girl is suspected of having been "motivated by members of the Islamic State group in Syria to commit this act," chief prosecutor Simon Heinrichs said.

Chronology: Terror plots in Germany Berlin, February 2016 In separate raids across the country, police arrested three Algerians suspected of links to the "Islamic State" militant group and of having planned a terrorist attack in Berlin. The Berlin prosecutor's office said prosecutors were aware of a "concrete" plan to target the capital.

Chronology: Terror plots in Germany Oberursel, April 2015 The Eschborn-Frankfurt City loop bike race was called off after German police discovered it may have been the target of an Islamist terror attack. A 35-year-old German with a Turkish background and his 34-year-old wife were arrested on suspicion of planning the attack. Police found bomb-making materials in their home near the bike route. Author: Dagmar Breitenbach



ksb/rt (dpa, AFP)