By Michael Behrendt, Dirk Böttger and Olaf Wagner
The operation was planned and top secret! The Berlin security authorities, together with colleagues from other federal states, launched a strike against the Islamist scene at 6 a.m. sharp on Thursday morning.
Background: Due to an investigation in accordance with association law, evidence should be secured and association assets confiscated. The greatest access was in Hamburg, where more than 200 officers searched a total of 32 objects.
These include the “Islamic Center Hamburg eV” (IZH), the association “Islamic Academy Germany eV” (IAD) and the “Association of the Supporters of an Iranian-Islamic Mosque in Hamburg eV”.
Raid on Thursday morning against Islamists in Berlin-Neukölln Photo: Olaf Wagner
These clubs have connections to Berlin. According to official police information, a total of five properties in the capital in Wilmersdorf, Charlottenburg, Tempelhof, Neukölln and Zehlendorf were searched by masked and heavily armed riot police.
However, on Harzer Straße in Neukölln – in front of an Islamic cultural center – access was delayed by 30 minutes. The police failed to use a cordless screwdriver on the entrance gate and eventually a side door was smashed in with a ram.
The officers had previously switched off a lantern standing directly in front of the object in order to be able to approach it undetected. An official to the BZ: “Embarrassing. If terrorists had been in the object, they could have used this time to disappear evidence or resort to arms.”
In a property on Mühlenstrasse in Zehlendorf, the emergency services had to use heavy equipment to gain access to a building in which various companies are located. A total of 160 officers were deployed across the city and the evaluation of the evidence is ongoing.