Germany bans Hezbollah activity and raids mosques

From Reuters and Deutsche Welle

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany has banned all Iran-backed Hezbollah activity on its soil and designated it a terrorist organisation, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday. Police also conducted early morning raids on mosque associations in four cities across Germany. Security officials believe up to 1,050 people in Germany are part of Hezbollah’s extremist wing.

Police are currently conducting raids on four associations linked to the Islamist group.The police raids are focused on four mosque associations in Berlin, Dortmund, Bremen and Münster accused of belonging to Hezbollah.

The ministry spokesman of German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer confirmed that “police measures are underway in several federal states concurrently,” and added that even in times of crisis, the “rule of law is able to act.”

The EU classifies Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist group, but not its political wing.  Which the Metropolitan Police used as an excuse not to ban the flag on London’s streets during the al Quds march every year until recently

Caption: German special police enter the El-Irschad  (Al-Iraschad e.V.) centre in Berlin