Germany’s largest mosque in the western city of Cologne was evacuated on Tuesday following a bomb threat sent via e-mail.
Police cordoned off streets in the Ehrenfeld area of the city and evacuated the complex of Cologne Central Mosque, which is run by the Turkish-Muslim umbrella group DITIB.
GROWING ISLAMOPHOBIA IN GERMANY
The headquarters of the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB) was also evacuated. Mosque officials said a bomb threat e-mailed by a far-right group has prompted the police response and the evacuations.
Mosque evacuated after a bomb threat in Germany WATCH
Germany has witnessed growing Islamophobia in recent years triggered by the propaganda of far-right parties and movements.
Police recorded 813 hate crimes against Muslims last year, including insults, threatening letters, physical assaults and attacks against mosques.
Germany, a country of over 81 million people, has the second-largest Muslim population in Western Europe after France. Among the country’s nearly 4.7 million Muslims, 3 million are of Turkish origin.