Police in Germany reportedly now fear the possibility of a leftist or eco-extremist terror attack occurring in the country.
Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has warned of an increasing risk of a leftist or green extremist terror attack occurring in the country, a report from a national newspaper has claimed.
It comes as many in the country express increasing fears regarding the radicalisation of climate activists currently operating in the country, with a number of officials warning that the formation of a new climate-oriented terror group now appears to be on the cards.
Such concerns have now been echoed by the BKA, which is said to have reported in a secret memo that there are increasing signs that such an extremist attack could occur.
According to Junge Freiheit, which claims to have seen the secret paper from earlier this month, German federal police appear to be particularly concerned about green terrorists targeting key infrastructure, with there reportedly being a massive uptick of suspicious activity near various military and fossil fuel installations.
Since the start of this year, over 20 cases of “possible spying behaviour” are said to have been reported, with drone sightings around army barracks, training areas and natural gas facilities increasing in frequency.
While the motivations for such “spying behaviour” is reportedly unknown, the report is said to conclude that there is an “increased interest on the part of the left and the climate activist scene in actions against, among other things, infrastructure facilities and commercial companies associated with the oil and gas industry”.
Although climate activists in Germany have largely limited themselves to blocking roads and vandalising artwork in their push for an end to fossil fuels, there appears to be general consensus that such eco-warriors have become significantly more radical in their methods over the last twelve months.
Some seem to now fear that this trend of radicalisation could continue, with one expert saying that the formation of a new terror group along the lines of the infamous Red Army Faction — an infamous Soviet-funded communist organisation responsible for murdering government officials — is now a significant possibility.
“For climate activists, this hysterical tipping point to violence and terror can happen very quickly,” terrorism expert Bettina Röhl, whose mother helped found the original Red Army Faction, remarked.
“Terrorism is always self-portrayal like besmirching Van Gogh, storming roadblocks or pipeline sites,” she also said, arguing that many in these groups then call for more “action” and even “revolution” when these methods fail.