Germany's Refugee-Driven Terror Problem Out of Control After a Dozen Incidents Since Jan 2016

Yesterday it was Hamburg. Today or tomorrow it could be anywhere else in Germany.

As I chronicle below, there have been a dozen terror-related incidents in Germany since January 2016, indicating that the problem may be at a tipping point as the number of fatal terror attacks in Western Europe has exploded in just the past few years.

Deadly #jihadi attacks in W #Europe increased from 2 in 2014 to 30 in 2016.

Me: How long until Europeans wake up?https://t.co/nj4nI7uDwg

— Daniel Pipes دانيال بايبس (@DanielPipes) July 29, 2017

The number of fatal terrorist attacks in western Europe increased in 2016 https://t.co/jGSM0ckM9a pic.twitter.com/GzyNVfPpUd

— Reuters Graphics (@ReutersGraphics) July 12, 2017

And many of the recent problems are refugee-driven.

The attacker who killed one and injured seven at a supermarket in Hamburg Friday while shouting “Allah akbar” was a Palestinian born in the UAE who was in the country illegally and was scheduled for deportation.

He entered the country in 2015 during the massive rush of Syrian migrants, during which 900,000 entered the country.

Video taken at the scene of yesterday’s attack shows him being taken under arrest and fending off the bystanders who subdued him:

#Exclusive video shows Hamburg supermarket knifeman after he was restrained by passersby https://t.co/mruaIimTgz pic.twitter.com/Nn7liJV6QX

— euronews (@euronews) July 28, 2017

Local media reported that the attacker was an Islamist already known to German authorities:

Hamburg attacker was known to authorities as 'Islamist' https://t.co/EkIFsANKYe pic.twitter.com/EselU9Yszd

— The Local Germany (@TheLocalGermany) July 29, 2017

With parliamentary elections looming in September, the Hamburg attack reopens the debate in Germany about Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to let more than a million immigrants enter the country since the summer of 2015.

Hamburg attack puts refugees back in focus as elections loom https://t.co/p2bQUAiG2x

— Financial Times (@FT) July 29, 2017

Hamburg Mayor Olaf Scholz lashed out on Facebook yesterday, noting that the attacker had been welcomed in Germany, only to “direct his hatred towards us.” He also called for deporting any dangerous immigrant Islamists.

Beatrix von Storch of the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party lashed out at Angela Merkel, saying on Twitter: “Before Mrs. Merkel tweets again that this is ‘beyond comprehension’: this has something to do with Islam. Comprehend that once and for all!”

Bevor Frau Merkel wieder "unbegreiflich" twittert:Das hat was mit dem Islam zu tun.Begreifen Sie doch endlich! #Barmbek #TraudichDeutschland

— Beatrix von Storch (@Beatrix_vStorch) July 28, 2017

And there’s justification for their concerns, as refugees/immigrants have been involved in all but one of the dozen terror-related incidents since January 2016:

Frankfurt (March 2011) – Arid Uka, a refugee from Kosovo, killed two U.S. airmen and wounded two more when he entered a bus carrying the airmen at Frankfurt’s airport. He asked the airmen if they had returned from Afghanistan before the shooting began. The murdered victims were USAF Senior Airman Nicholas Alden and Airman First Class Zachary Cuddeback. Uka was discovered to be the disciple of a Moroccan preacher living in Germany.

Berlin (Sept 2015) – Iraqi-born Rafik Mohamad Yousef, who had previously served an eight-year prison sentence for planning to kill Iraq’s prime minister as part of an Ansar al-Islam terror cell, stabbed a police officer in the neck when she responded at the scene to reports of a man threatening others with a knife. He was shot and killed by police. His tracking bracelet from his earlier prison sentence had been removed only hours before.

Hanover (Feb 2016) – “Sofia S.,” a 16-year-old German-Moroccan girl who had just returned from Turkey and received orders from ISIS operatives, stabbed a police officer at the city’s central railway station. The attacker had already been known to authorities after she had tried to travel to Syria to join ISIS a month earlier. She was intercepted by her mother in Istanbul and interrogated by police upon her return to Germany. Another 20-year-old German-Syrian man was arrested in connection with the attack for knowing about her plans beforehand but failing to notify police. He tried to flee Germany but was arrested in Greece and extradited back.

Grafing (May 2016) – A 27-year-old German man stabbed four men, one fatally, on a Munich-bound train, while shouting “Allah akhbar” and “You unbelievers must die!” Authorities subsequently claimed that the attacker, only identified as “Paul H.,” was mentally disturbed.

Wurzburg (July 2016) – Riaz Khan Ahmadzai (aka Muhammad Riyad), an Afghan refugee who many have come from Pakistan, attacked train passengers with an axe while shouting “Allah akhbar” and saying he was “seeking revenge on these infidels.” He seriously injured four passengers — all members of one family from Hong Kong. He was shot and killed by anti-terror police. The attack by the 17-year-old was claimed by ISIS, who published his martyrdom video. He had arrived in June 2015 as an “unaccompanied minor.”

Reutlingen (July 2016) – A machete-wielding 27-year-old Syrian refugee killed a pregnant woman and injured two others. The asylum-seeker had been involved in previous incidents causing injuries to others. Police later claimed that the attack was not terror-related.

Ansbach (July 2016) – Fifteen people were injured, four seriously, when Mohammad Daleel, a 27-year-old Syrian refugee, detonated a bomb he was carrying outside a wine bar. Daleel was the only fatality, and he had built the bomb in a refugee center. ISIS later claimed responsibility for the attack, and he was in contact with ISIS operatives in Saudi Arabia. He had tried to enter a music festival with 2,500 people in attendance, but was stopped by security. He had arrived in Germany in December 2014, having previously claimed asylum in Bulgaria and Austria. He had been served with a deportation notice nine days before. Daleel had been aided in his asylum application by the far Left pro-immigration Die Linke party.

Cologne (Sept 2016) – A 16-year-old Syrian refugee was arrested and convicted earlier this year of planning a bombing. He had received bomb-making instructions from an ISIS operative and he had already compiled bomb components. He entered Germany with his family in 2015.

Chemnitz (Oct 2016) – Police locked down the city and announced a manhunt for 22-year-old Jaber Albakr, who entered Germany in 2015 as a Syrian refugee, after he had slipped police surveillance. They believed he was planning a bombing at an airport. A police search of his home found an ISIS flag and “several hundred grams” of explosives. He was arrested two days later in Leipzig, and later hanged himself in his jail cell.

Hamburg (Oct 2016) – ISIS claimed responsibility for the stabbing of a 16-year-old male and his 15-year-old girlfriend. The male was killed in the attack and the still-unknown attacker threw the woman off a bridge into the water. The ISIS Amaq News Agency identified the attacker as a “soldier of the Islamic State” and said the incident was “in response to the calls to target the citizens of coalition countries.” Even though ISIS had claimed the attack, police later said they weren’t sure it was terror-related even though the attacker has still not been found.

Hurlach (Nov 2016) – A 24-year-old Syrian asylum seeker living in a refugee center stabbed one of his roommates in the neck while shouting “Allah akbar.” The attack reportedly occurred because he believed the man was not sufficiently religious and had made a statement offending Mohammed while watching an Al Jazeera program. The Damascus-born refugee of Palestinian origin left Syria in August 2015 and was found by German authorities to be traveling on a fake Italian passport. The suspect’s trial began earlier this month.

Berlin (Dec 2016) – Tunisian refugee Anis Amri ran over shoppers at a Christmas market killing 12 and injuring 50. Amri had been rejected for asylum, but authorities had not been able to deport him because he lacked identification papers. He had used 14 different aliases applying for welfare benefits across Germany. Amri had been known to authorities, and after the attack German police were discovered to have been altering records trying to cover up their incompetence in allowing him to remain in the country.

Brandenburg (May 2017) – A 17-year-old Syrian refugee who entered Germany during the refugee rush of 2015 was arrested after planning a suicide bombing in Berlin.

Hamburg (July 2017) – “Ahmad al H,” a 26-year-old asylum seeker born in UAE and of Palestinian origin entered a supermarket on Friday, took a large knife off the shelf, and stabbed one man to death inside the store and began stabbing others. Living in a refugee shelter in Hamburg, he had been scheduled for deportation and had inquired with police earlier in the day about the status of the paperwork.

Remarkably, the interior minister for Hamburg said on Saturday that while he was known by authorities to be an Islamist — and not a jihadist (!!!) — and was shouting “Allah akhbar” during the attack, there are indications that he may be mentally disturbed and it’s too soon to tell what his motive may be.

But the number of Islamists in Germany shows the scope of the problem.

"Germany’s domestic intelligence service estimates there are about 10,000 radical Islamists in the country." https://t.co/ZnKIzGTuf6

— Max Abrahms (@MaxAbrahms) July 28, 2017

And as our own Rick Moran reported here at PJ Media last September, German officials admit they know of at least 500 jihadists operating in the country.

Merkel's Refugee Policies Bearing Bitter Fruit https://t.co/hsSnsflxcv #trending

— PJ Media (@PJMedia_com) September 11, 2016

That number may not include the nearly 300 jihadist foreign fighters who have already returned to Germany from Syria and Iraq:

pic.twitter.com/27jNxkBu8L

— AFP news agency (@AFP) June 16, 2017

As I reported here earlier this week, U.S. officials are circulating to coalition partners a list of 19,000 known ISIS foreign fighters who are on the loose.

#BREAKING U.S. Warns the World About 19,000 ISIS Fighters On The Loose https://t.co/hkQA3UB6R7 via @pjmedia_com

— Patrick Poole (@pspoole) July 27, 2017

With the number of fatal terror attacks increasing exponentially in recent years, the number of terror arrests in the EU doubling last year, and terror fatalities increasing 900 percent from 2007 to 2016, it’s clear there’s a serious problem.

#ThanksObama Global Terrorism Has Tripled Since 2011: Now At An All Time High & Up 900% in OECD https://t.co/EVgKJs9SKl via @pjmedia_com pic.twitter.com/0FzJILERd3

— Patrick Poole (@pspoole) June 1, 2017

Jihadist Arrests in EU Doubled Last Year, Rising for Third Year in a Row: Europol https://t.co/xkOSh7Egqo via @pjmedia_com pic.twitter.com/ylwbhP5Px3

— Patrick Poole (@pspoole) June 16, 2017

Has terrorism reached or already passed a tipping point in Europe? Will Angela Merkel pay a political price for her open immigration policies?

Those questions can only be answered in the future, but the data at hand seems to indicate that it’s not just Germany that has serious problems on its hands.