Mosque in Germany gets letter with neo-Nazi threats

A mosque in the central German city of Goettingen received a threatening letter with a Swastika and other neo-Nazi symbols, officials said on Thursday.

Mehmet İbrahimbaş, chairman of the mosque association, said the letter contained racist and Islamophobic language, and had the neo-Nazi alias "NSU 2.0."

"Our mosque community and Muslims in Goettingen are worried due to the continued threats of violence," he said, adding that it was the second threatening letter they received in several months.

In September last year, unidentified suspects also painted a swastika on the wall of the mosque, which is run by the Turkish-Muslim umbrella group DITIB.

"NSU 2.0" refers to the National Socialist Underground, a neo-Nazi terror group uncovered in 2011 that murdered 10 people and carried out bomb attacks targeting immigrants.

Germany has witnessed growing racism and Islamophobia in recent years, fueled by the propaganda of far-right groups, which have exploited the refugee crisis and attempted to stoke fear of immigrants.

According to the latest data, police registered at least 610 Islamophobic hate crimes in 2022 across the country.

Some 62 mosques were attacked between January and December last year, and at least 39 people were injured because of anti-Muslim violence.

The figures also included dozens of hate crimes against Muslims, cases of intimidation, vandalism and property damage.

A country of over 84 million people, Germany has the second-largest Muslim population in Western Europe after France. It is home to nearly 5 million Muslims, according to official figures.