Next bomb threat: Further mosque in Germany evacuated - investigators are puzzled

Bomb threats in Essen, Unna and Hagen: Three mosques were evacuated on Wednesday. Now the police in Bielefeld have also been alerted.

• Four mosques had to be evacuated in North Rhine-Westphalia.
• Faithful houses in Essen, Unna, Hagen and Bielefeld received threatening emails .
• The police in Essen blocked the area around the mosque .

Update from February 13, 7.45 a.m .: There was another bomb threat against a mosque in North Rhine-Westphalia . As the police announced early Thursday morning, an anonymous email was received the night before at a mosque in Bielefeld . In this one was threatened with an explosive explosion. The mosque was then cleared.

However, a search with explosives dogs was unsuccessful, the police said. No suspicious items were found. The state protection of the Bielefeld police started the investigation.

On Wednesday, three mosques in Essen, Unna and Hagen received similar threats by email. The all-clear was also given in these cases. Whether there is a connection is part of the investigation.

Bomb threat: Three German mosques evacuated - police had to close urban area

Essen - Three mosques in North Rhine-Westphalia had to be evacuated . The Dortmund police reported that "comparable" emails had been received in Unna, Hagen and Essen .

Bomb threat: Mosques in Hagen, Unna and Essen evacuated

In the news, explosions were threatened inside and outside the buildings. “The affected buildings have been evacuated , and no one has been harmed. Roads in the vicinity of the mosques have also been blocked off in order to prevent possible harm to citizens, ”the officials reported.

After threats against mosque: police block district

Especially in Essen , the police operation took on larger proportions. Fortunately, after about an hour, the emergency services were unable to report a find and initiated the opening of the full closure.

Due to a threat of using explosives, we have a major #police operation on the #Westfalenstrasse in #Essen. Please avoid this area so that the emergency services can work undisturbed. Thank you for your understanding

Bomb threats against mosques: is there a connection with Munich?

It is not the first time that Muslim religious communities have been threatened by email . The last such incident occurred in Munich in July 2019. Two mosques received drone messages there.

At that time, the news could be assigned to the right-wing extremist group "Blood & Honor" . The Munich Advocate General confirmed the participation of the neo-Nazi group and was thus able to attribute the crime to the right milieu.

Nazi group threatened Muslims in Munich: Were right-wing extremists at work in NRW as well?

It has not yet been clarified whether the threats in North Rhine-Westphalia can also be attributed to a right-wing group or an individual. After securing the dangerous situation, the Dortmund police will begin the investigation.

This is strongly reminiscent of July last year. After the Munich threats, the Ditib Central Mosque in Cologne also received such an email. Here, too, the police suspected an extreme right-wing motive and researched possible connections with the Munich incidents. The reasons behind the threats in Essen, Unna and Hagen have yet to be determined.