Germany admits there are 500 hidden lone-wolf jihadis ready to form ‘hit teams’ to commit atrocities in Europe
German interior minister Thomas de Maziere has warned that there are over 500 Islamic militants in the country capable of forming themselves into independent "hit teams" to commit atrocities.
He said there were at least 520 "potential attackers" in Germany - a nation on edge since two Islamic State-inspired attacks in July in which the attackers were both refugees.
He said another 360 "relevant" people were known to police because of their "close proximity" to potential killers.
His comments lend more credibility to right-wing parties like the Alternative for Germany (AfD) which has for long argued that Isis fighters mingled with the 1.2 million migrants who came to Germany in the past year.
De Maiziere told the Bild paper: "The terror threat now stems from foreign hit teams as well as fanatical lone wolves in Germany".
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"The hit teams are secretly smuggled into Europe and prepare their actions without being noticed, as we saw with the attacks in Paris and Brussels," he added.
"But it's even more difficult to uncover the fanatical lone wolves. Unfortunately, there is a real and present danger from both threats."
Deleel killed only himself but injured 15 others and had planned to attack a musical festival but was turned away.
He injured four people before being shot dead by cops.
German authorities say they are doing everything possible to monitor "the potential terrorists" in the country and pointed out that there have been more investigations and arrests this year.
Despite their efforts de Maziere added: "The authorities are assuming there are undiscovered lone wolf terrorists out there."
The AfD has seized on the attacks to criticise Chancellor Angela Merkel's migrant policies and beat her party into third place in elections a week ago in her home state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
De Maiziere said Islam did not bear within it the "seed of terrorism" and appealed to all Muslims to distance themselves from Islamist terrorism, urging people to recognise radicalisation patterns within their communities and intervene.
"It is an abuse of the religion to carry out assassinations in the name of Islam," de Maiziere added.
The bloodbath mass killing was not terror-related.
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