Berlin attack Takfiri strategy to sharpen Muslim, non-Muslim divide

Islamophobia is on the rise in Europe, as part of the strategy of the enemies to tarnish the image of Islam, by promoting such Godless elements as the Takfiri terrorists, including the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also called ‘Daesh’, which has no relation whatsoever with the genuine teachings of faith, as preached by Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). Here is an analysis by Joby Warrick titled “Berlin Attack Takfiri Strategy to Sharpen Muslim, Non-Muslim Divide”.

The claim on the official Amaq media channel was short and distressingly familiar: A “soldier of the [so-called] Islamic State” was behind yet another attack on civilians in Europe, this time at a festive Christmas market in Berlin. The accuracy of the claim remained in question as German authorities searched for both a suspect and a motive behind the deadly truck assault on holiday revelers. But already it appeared that the attack had achieved one of the Takfiri terrorists stated objectives: spreading fear and chaos in a Western country in hopes of sharpening the divide between Muslims and everyone else.

Terrorism experts likened the claim to a declaration of all-out war against a country that until now had seen little of the terrorist violence that has rocked its Francophone neighbors. Germany, with its large Muslim community and recent history of political discord over Muslim immigration, has long been viewed by the terrorist group as an important strategic target, despite the country’s reputation for tolerance.

The self-proclaimed Islamic State officials in recent months have urged supporters to carry out attacks in Germany by any means — including using non-traditional weapons such as trucks — with the aim of creating an anti-Muslim backlash in Europe’s biggest democracy. The resulting crackdown would benefit the so-called Islamic State, the Takfiri terrorist group argues, by dividing Europeans and driving wavering Muslims into a corner.

Paul Pillar, a former CIA counterterrorism official and a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies, says: “The very fact that Germany has played only a minor role in anti-Daesh efforts — but is the most important state in Western Europe — may make it a good place to sow division within the Western alliance. The specter of Muslim refugees and immigrants turning on their hosts, in a country that has accepted an especially large share of such migrants, may intensify anti-immigration sentiment not just in Germany but also elsewhere in Europe.”

The Takfiri terrorists claim of responsibility came nearly 24 hours after the attack on the Breitscheidplatz square, where an unknown assailant drove a truck through a crowded Christmas street festival, killing 12 people and injuring nearly 50. German police initially detained a Pakistani asylum seeker who had fled the scene, but authorities later released the man after concluding that he had not been involved.

The Takfiri terrorist group’s statement simply attributed the attack to a “soldier of the IS” but gave no details about the attacker. In the past, the group has claimed credit for terrorist acts committed by individuals who were inspired by its propaganda but had no direct ties to the organization or its members.

Some counterterrorism experts treated the claim with skepticism, noting the lack of authenticating detail as well as the truck driver’s behavior during and after the attack. For example, unlike previous incidents in which the perpetrators seemed to have expected death, the driver of the Berlin truck fled the vehicle and escaped by blending in with the crowd.

Ali Soufan, a former FBI supervisory special agent who investigated terrorism cases, said: “The easiest thing to say is, ‘It is Daesh’, but if you’re conducting an investigation, you have to ask all sorts of questions and explore all sorts of possibilities. You have to follow the evidence, and it seems interesting to me that we’re seeing some stuff that we haven’t seen before.”

Lorenzo Vidino, director of the program on extremism at George Washington University, said the driver’s behavior suggested that the attack may have been inspired by extremist ideology. The choice of Germany may have been simply a matter of opportunity or — if Daesh was truly involved — a strike against a strategically important target.

Vidino said: “Germany is a target for obvious reasons. One of them, paradoxically, is its open-door policy towards Syrian refugees. From the perspective of Daesh, that policy takes away the natural citizens of the caliphate, showing its bankruptcy. Every refugee that is welcome in Germany is a living testament of how most Muslims want little to do with ISIS’s project.”

On a more strategic level, he said, the attack helps fulfill the group’s core objective of widening the gulf between Muslims and non-Muslims. Vidino added: “For any Western country they target, extremists want more polarization between Muslims and the rest of the population. An attack on such a cherished, popular and Christian tradition definitely works in that direction.”

The Takfiri terrorist groups’ propaganda machine has produced hundreds of messages in recent months urging followers to carry out terrorist strikes abroad without waiting for specific instruction or coordination. The volume of such messages has increased in recent weeks as the terrorist group has suffered a string of military defeats in its self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria. In November, the outfit’s French-language media outlet called on European Muslims to replicate the July 14 terrorist attack in Nice, France, in which a French Tunisian ran over scores of people along a crowded seaside promenade, killing 86. The posting featured a Muslim man vowing to “take my truck and go forth, towards my enemies upon whom I will inflict a true punishment, until they are afflicted with grief.”

Ringleaders of the Takfiri terrorist outfit have explicitly sought to link such attacks to the larger goal of making Europe intolerable for faithful Muslims. A 2015 article in the group’s English-language magazine, Dabiq, warned that the terrorists would soon begin targeting the West with the aim of deliberately provoking a backlash against Muslims living there.

“Muslims in the West,” the article claim, “will quickly find themselves between one of two choices: they either apostatize and adopt the [Western] religion . . . or they emigrate to the Daesh-controlled territories...”

Meanwhile, reports from Denmark said the Takfiri terrorists are receiving social benefits from the country. According to local media, at least 36 people who are known by authorities to have left Denmark to join the ranks of Daesh terrorists continued to receive welfare payments.

The Ekstra Bladet newspaper said: Thirty-four alleged terrorists received cash benefits from municipal authorities, and two others from private but heavily state-subsidized funds. The newspaper obtained the figures from the Danish Employment Ministry through a freedom of information request.

"It is totally unacceptable and a disgrace. It must be stopped," he told Ekstra Bladet. "If you travel to Syria to participate in war, to become an Daesh member, then you obviously do not have any right for benefits from the government."     Such an outrageous situation was blamed on both the municipalities' lack of awareness and sluggishness of the Danish Security and Intelligence Service [PET], who failed to issue a warning about the suspicious individuals, according to the minister. Only one of the alleged Daesh terrorists out of the 36 was reported to the police by a municipality.

It's not the first time that Danish Daesh terrorists receiving welfare benefits had been reported. In 2014, PET disclosed information on 28 Daesh terrorists, receiving benefits while fighting in Syria.

At least 135 people had left Denmark to join terrorists and participate in middle-eastern wars, according to PETs estimates. Denmark is believed to be the second European country after Belgium supplying the most militants to Daesh terrorists. The overall number of Danish terrorists almost equals the Danish army's 150-soldier unit, deployed in Iraq as part of a western coalition.

AS/SS