German domestic intelligence has warned of a growing number of Islamic extremist women who are taking over the Salafist scene, as their men head to prison, and are radicalising the next generation of young jihadis.
The Agency for the Protection of the Constitution in North Rhine-Westphalia claims that the Islamic extremist scene is becoming increasingly more influenced by women. Burkhard Freier, head of the regional branch of the agency, said that the women have come into prominence and they have at least 40 female radicals under observation, Die Welt reports.
“The men have realised that women can network much better and therefore are much more able to tie the scene together and keep it alive,” Freier said.
According to the agency head, the real danger is that the women are creating Salafist communities in which mothers preach extremism and raise their children as young jihadis in a parallel society.
“This makes Salafism a family affair, it begins to create something that is much harder to liquidate, namely a Salafist society,” Freier said and added that “every jihadist terrorist we’ve seen in Europe in recent years came from the Salafist scene.”
“There is an increasing number of underage Salafists who fantasise about violence,” Frier noted.
Women, particularly young women, have proven to be actively involved in Salafist extremist groups like Swiss Burqa advocate Nora Illi who was recently arrested in Vienna protesting the Austrian full-face veil ban.
Others, like German Muslim teen Linda Wenzel, travelled to the Middle East to join Islamic State. The 16-year-old currently faces the death penalty after she was captured by forces liberating territory from the terror group’s control.
She is said to have served as a female enforcer of the strict Sharia law endorsed by the extremist group.