The Islamic State has a cell operating in peaceful Switzerland and has sent fighters to Syria, according to reports.
Challenging the conventional wisdom that Islamist extremism is prevalent in Western nations which have invaded middle eastern countries, the claim about the radical Swiss mosque has been made by a well respected and award winning war correspondent.
Swiss journalist of the year 2014 Kurt Pelda made the claim in an interview with with Swiss newspaper Der Landbote, linking extremism with the An’Nur mosque in Winterthur, a small city 20 miles south west of Zürich.
Syria expert Mr. Pelda said of the mosque: “A man from Winterthur became radicalized in the last few months and recently travelled to Syria.
“We do not know exactly what he has done in Syria but there is every indication it has to do with ISIS… ISIS has a cell in Winterhur in the An’Nur mosque, let there be no doubt”.
Four men reportedly linked to the mosque have since travelled to the Islamic State, while a fifth was detained by the security services at Zürich airport.
In common with other mosques which have been accused of harbouring extremism, the managers of the building have claimed they are struggling with outsiders who come to the mosque and try to radicalise people standing outside. Mr. Pelda claimed these radicals were not turned away because there were radicals in turn sitting on the executive board of the mosque.
Refuting the claims, president of the Islamic Cultural Association An’Nur Atef Sahoun said the mosque had a zero tolerance policy of radicalisation: “If we discover radical tendencies in one member, then the appropriate person will be immediately excluded. We send them away, no matter who it is”.
Despite their isolationist stance and tough migration rules, Switzerland is still dealing with a growing radicalisation problem among it’s migrant population. Imported conflicts have led to bloodshed on Switzerland’s streets as inter-migrant tensions flared.
Breitbart London reported in September on the shocking scenes as Kurds and Turks went to war in the city of Bern when two died after being rammed by a car being used at a weapon at high speed. The shocking incident was captured on mobile phone cameras and shared on the internet, showing how imported radicals not only clamour to murder their Western hosts, but each other as well.
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