Germany bans Islamic organization accused of financing 'terrorism'

World

Published: 2021-05-05 14:45

Last Updated: 2024-03-29 13:05


Source: DW
Source: DW

Germany announced Wednesday that it has banned the Islamic non-governmental organization "Ansar International," which the country has accused of financing "terrorism" under the cover of charitable work.

A spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior said in a tweet that Minister Horst Seehofer the organization that "finances terrorism around the world through donations."

"If you want to fight terrorism, you have to dry up its sources of funding," Seehofer said.

The ban came into effect on Wednesday morning, and was accompanied by raids and confiscations targeting homes and garages in ten German regions, according to "SWR" radio.

The non-governmental organization, which was established in Düsseldorf West in 2012, has been under surveillance by the authorities for years.

It collects donations for charitable causes in regions experiencing crises such as Syria, Yemen and the Gaza Strip.

The radio referred to a document issued by the Ministry of the Interior stating that the association is close to the Salafi movement and that it carries out advocacy activities targeting children at the organization's headquarters in Germany and that promotes "extremist Salafism."

Donations collected by the associations are apparently used to support 'terrorism' groups such as HAMAS and the al-Nusra Front.

The Ministry of Interior included the ban a total of nine subsidiary organizations of Ansar International, in particular the Somali Committee for Information and Advice in Darmstadt and Hesse, an affiliate of former footballer Anis Benhatira in Berlin and WWR-Help.