Uzbek link to German jihadis
Originally reported last week in Die Spiegel and picked up elsewhere (not sure if it appeared here):
Quote:
The German government is trying to secure the release of a group of suspected German terrorists, arrested by Pakistani authorities while they were on their way to a jihadi colony in Waziristan Agency. A report in the German newspaper Speigel claimed that entire families from Germany, and Europe, were moving to the region to take part in jihad. In a recent jihadi video surfacing in Germany, a young speaker, who called himself “Abu Adam”, praises his stay in the mountains. “Doesn’t it appeal to you? We warmly invite you to join us!” Abu Adam said. The latest recruitment video from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) is 30 minutes in length and is addressed to “beloved” brothers and sisters back in Germany. The video was presented by, among others, Mounir Chouka, alias “Abu Adam”, who grew up in the western German city of Bonn. The video showed shacks erected against a backdrop of lush greenery and craggy rock formations, with women wearing blue burqas seen surrounded by children, the paper said. The video appeals seem to be finding fertile ground in Germany. German security officials believe the IMU is currently the largest and most active Islamic group recruiting in the country. But what was worrying them more was that the terrorists did not usually recruit women and children, as the IMU appeared doing. Villages: Families are moving to “mujahideen villages” in the Tribal Areas, which are used as bases for supporting the battle against the US troops and the Afghan army, Speigel claimed.
There is a current court trial in Germany of a terrorist group, called the Saurland plot to attack US targets, who were mainly Turks recruited by the Uzbek group (IMU) - German legend was that German-Turks were not attrcated by AQ ideology (3m of the 4.3m Muslims in Germany are Turks). Four defendants have made admissions and indicated there was a previously unknown group of German-Turks in Waziristan. Of note is that those recruited were encouraged to return home to launch attacks.
There are too many links on Google and some background is in: http://www.swp-berlin.org/common/get...?asset_id=5147
hHelps to put the context of German concerns over terrorism; which is little reported in the UK except headlines.
Fuchs - any reaction being closer to the scene?
davidbfpo
German held by U.S. troops planned Europe attacks
Hat tip to Kings of War for spotting this:
Quote:
A German Islamist held by U.S. troops in Afghanistan and interrogated since July has revealed details of planned attacks on targets in Germany and Europe.
Link:http://www.reuters.com/article/idUST...US+/+Top+News)
Note suspect linked to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
The Grand Strategy of Germany (FRG)
A new contribution for a better understanding of Germany by foreigners:
The Grand Strategy of Germany (FRG)
Germany to Abolish Conscription
From today's Guardian, UK:
Quote:
The German government has announced plans to abolish compulsory military service by next summer, marking the most radical overhaul of the armed forces since its postwar founding and a major change to German society.
Under the reforms, which will transform the Bundeswehr into a fully professional defence force by July 2011, the size of the existing military and its inefficient bureaucratic apparatus will be considerably reduced as part of a cost-cutting exercise aimed at shaving about €8bn (£6.8bn) from the defence spending budget.
The entire story can be read at this link .
Terror in Germany: An interview with Guido Steinberg
Hat tip to ICSR blogsite for an interview with the FRG's most prominent expert on the topic of radicalisation in Germany:http://icsr.info/blog/Terror-in-Germ...uido-Steinberg
There is another thread on the recent Frankfurt Airport shooting.
Germany 'bomb plotters under al-Qaeda orders
A BBC report on three arrests made, from a cell of eight and I'd expect the report is all from government sources:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13248107
Homegrown Terror Takes on New Dimensions
An interesting article and worth a read IMHO, especially on the terror threat before the German federal elections last year:http://www.spiegel.de/international/...761391,00.html
Note the estimated flow of Jihadists to training camps in Pakistan.
Adventure Training or Jihad Training?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bill Moore
As the article states this has been going a while, it woulld be interesting to see the estimated numbers of Europeans going to these camps from France, England, Netherlands, etc.
Also of interest would be how many are seriously pursuing jihad versus going to a summer adventure camp? Based on the number of attacks, etc. is clear not all those attending are serious jihadis. Just a thought.
Bill,
I know of no open source / published estimate of traffic to the camps from the UK and I'd be surprised if the French were open to this.
Valid point about
Quote:
summer adventure camp
and IIRC Guido Steinberg referred to that in an article I've linked here before. I've read a few papers on foreign fighters and only rarely is leaving the process of radicalisation / training mentioned. Try this for more:http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/p...cyFocus101.pdf
What do the coalition forces think of germany´s army?
Hello @ all...
I´d like to read some statements of US-, UK-, canadian- (what ever)guys who serve/served in Afghanistan about the germans in AFG.
What do you think, how we are doing our job there?
In my opinion we had to develop from a peace-army to a fighting-army during our engagement in AFG. We were not being prepared for that rising hostility there. We were sent there with the mission to build shools or fountains, but not for fighting. In the last four years these things changed. We had more and more troops in contact. We lost men and habe lots of wounded. PTSD became a big problem for us.
In the first contacts, our troops withdrew. But by the time our CO´s, our platoon-leaders and our team-leaders got sick of getting away. They decided to engeage the INS who attacked us, not the officers of staff in the HQ.
I remember a situation in Kunduz in 2009. A german patrol was under fire by an overwhelming enemy formation. A company of our Quick-Reaction-Force was in the near and decided to get there for support. I think the INS did not belived their eyes when the first APC apeared an fired some rounds of HE-ammo on them. And then the infantry went out and started to roll them off. This was the tourning point for our role in AFG. Now every leader has the opportunity to decide what to do in situations of contact. He can decide to engage or to withdrawl. And I do not remember one leader in the field who wants to get away without trying to kick some INS-asses.
How do you see us?
Greetz
Heh. LLLs quite often disregard their higher HQ.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
carl
This is very interesting. Do you mean the lower level leaders eventually decided to fight in spite of what the HQ officers were telling them to do?
Most subordinate leaders use one of two techniques, generally type of task or validity of guidance determined. Either selective neglect or selective compliance. That's called exercising 'initiative.' We used to encourage it before we got all touchy feely and nambyish. Now it's not encouraged but few Armies would get much accomplished if that didn't happen constantly.
Terror Plot or Homesickness? Austria Detains Alleged Islamic Extremist
A fascinating article and summarised as:
Quote:
Austrian authorities have detained an alleged Islamist extremist from Berlin as he was traveling back from Afghanistan, where he had undergone terror training. The 26-year-old had boasted about attacking "infidels," but it is unclear whether he was embarking on a terror plot or simply heading home after becoming disillusioned with his cause.
Link:http://www.spiegel.de/international/...769405,00.html
Curious the potential / actual role of Austria, a small country at the "crossroads of Europe" and IIRC with little experience of terrorist attacks for a long time (OPEC ministers seized way back in the 1970's).