BERLIN
Germany has outlawed the extremist group Tawhid Germany for allegedly disseminating terrorist propaganda and seeking to recruit fighters for Daesh in Syria and other groups in Iraq.
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said in a written statement on Thursday that the group, which is also known as “Team Tawhid Media”, had been carrying out activities against the German constitution.
"Associations like Tawhid Germany are a threat to our social cohesion. They are actively targeting teenagers, radicalizing them and even recruiting them to fight in Syria and Iraq," he said.
De Maiziere said the ban was a clear signal to all militant and extremist groups in the country.
Violent murders
He made the remarks as police raided houses and offices of suspected members of the Tawhid Germany in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria, Hesse and Schleswig Holstein on Thursday.
Tawhid Germany is seen as a substitute for the extremist group Millatu Ibrahim, which was outlawed in Germany in 2012.
The German government has recently taken strong measures against extremist groups in the country following reports of violent murders and atrocities committed by Daesh in Syria and Iraq.
Germany outlawed Daesh in September last year and banned any activity in the country on behalf of Daesh, including propaganda, logistical or financial support.
'No prospects'
German security organizations estimate that about 600 Germans, mostly young immigrants from Salafist groups, have travelled to Syria and joined ISIL since the beginning of the civil war.
About 6,000 Salafists are active in Germany, according to the Interior Ministry – a number which accounts for a very small minority of the Muslim population.
Germany has the second-largest Muslim population in Western Europe after France.
Among the four million Muslims in the country, three million are of Turkish origin.
Germany’s leading Muslim organizations said the source of the radicalization of some young immigrants is not Islam itself, but sociological problems they face, such as discrimination, unemployment or a lack of future prospects.
