March 28, 2018•Update: March 29, 2018
BERLIN
More than a hundred foreign fighters, who joined terrorist PYD/PKK group and took part in armed attacks in Syria, recently returned to Germany, local media reported.
Since the start of conflict in Syria, around 300 foreign fighters from Germany travelled to the region to join the PKK and associated terrorist groups, daily Express reported.
Among them,125 foreign fighters, who received military training and took part in armed clashes, returned to their homes in Germany, the daily claimed, citing security sources.
Johannes Dimroth, spokesman of the Federal Interior Ministry, said on Wednesday that the country’s security agencies were taking all necessary measures against illegal activities of the PKK.
“We are carefully monitoring the return of foreign fighters,” he told a news conference in Berlin, but also added that they have not observed recently a significant increase compared to the previous years.
“But, of course, we take this phenomena very seriously,” he added.
Dimroth said, a total of 980 foreign fighters, including Daesh militants and other terrorists, are believed to have travelled from Germany to the conflict areas in Syria and Iraq,
While the PKK has been banned in Germany since 1993, it managed to set up several covert organizations and used them for its propaganda, recruitment and fundraising activities.
The terrorist group had nearly 14,000 followers among the Kurdish immigrant population in Germany, according to the latest annual report of the country’s domestic intelligence agency.
The PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years and has been responsible for the death of nearly 40,000 people.
