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Germany bans Islamist ‘True Religion’ group, raiding mosques and flats

Police launched dawn raids across Germany on Tuesday on about 190 mosques, flats and offices linked to an Islamist group after the government banned the organization, accusing it of radicalizing youngsters. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the DWR “True Religion” group had persuaded about 140 people to join militants in Iraq and Syria. DWR, […]

Police launched dawn raids across Germany on Tuesday on about 190 mosques, flats and offices linked to an Islamist group after the government banned the organization, accusing it of radicalizing youngsters.

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Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the DWR “True Religion” group had persuaded about 140 people to join militants in Iraq and Syria.

DWR, also known as “READ!” made no reference to the raids on its website and did not immediately respond to a request for comment. De Maiziere said it had several hundred members.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has come under pressure to harden her line on security after several attacks claimed by Islamic State across Europe, including a bombing and a knifing in Germany that wounded some 20 people in July. She is also under fire for letting in about 900,000 migrants, mostly Muslims, last year.

Some Syrians in Germany say many mosques here are more conservative than those at home, and that they are confronted by Muslims who insist on a literal interpretation of the Koran.

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Last month, a Syrian committed suicide in prison after he was arrested on suspicion of planning to bomb an airport. His brother and friends have said he was “brainwashed” by ultra-conservatives imams in Berlin.

Read the whole story from Reuters.

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Featured image courtesy of Reuters.

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