ISIS ‘target German church honoured by Queen Elizabeth’ in sick terror propaganda magazine
A restored German church honoured by Queen Elizabeth over a decade ago is a target for the Islamic State terror group.
The ISIS propaganda magazine Rumiyah has a photo of the world famous Dresden Frauenkirche in its latest edition.
Next to a photo of the church beneath the headline “Just Terror Tactics”, an article reads: “The popular gathering place of the crusaders, waiting to be burned down.”
It went on to state that churches like the Frauenkirche are “optimal places of attack” because of their close proximity to nightclubs, restaurants and bars.
The Frauenkirche – Church of Our Lady – was destroyed in the controversial Allied bombing raid in 1945 which gutted Dresden’s baroque centre and claimed 25,000 civilian lives.
The blackened hulk of the church rotted through the years of the Cold War when Dresden lay in the Communist east.
After reunification the structure was rebuilt using much of the original masonry which was found in the ruins.
The Queen visited the church in 2004 ahead of its reconsecration. The new gilded orb and cross on top of the dome was forged by Grant Macdonald Silversmiths in Londonusing the original 18th-century techniques as much as possible.
Dresden Police President Horst Kretzschmar confirmed that German intelligence had passed on the Isis report to him, which also contains a DIY guide on how to make firebombs.
He told German newspaper Bild: “Yes, we know that. There is an abstract danger and we are prepared for it.”
Heavily armed “intervention teams” are ready in the background, he added.
After last week’s terrorist attack in Barcelona, a new threat analysis was conducted in Germany by the authorities.
Churches are deemed as vulnerable sites and security is being stepped up around them, including at Cologne Cathedral which draws hundreds of thousands of tourists a year.
Terror expert Professor Peter Neumann from London’s King’s College told Bild: “Perhaps the terrorists are now putting more emphasis on such goals.
“This is shocking, but it fits into the picture because of the perpetrators goal of religious confrontation.”
Germany has been in high alert since Isis terrorist Anis Amri hijacked a truck in Berlin on December 19 last year and drove it into a Christmas market crowd.
He went on the run across Europe before being gunned down on December 23 in Milan, Italy.
Source: Express
