MOSCOW (Sputnik) – According to the minister, about 360 individuals are ready to assist in preparing terror attacks.
"Potentially dangerous are persons, about whom there is a presumption based on facts that they can commit serious politically motivated crimes. They make up more than 520 people, which is the highest ever index," de Maiziere told the Bild newspaper in an interview.
There are two major terror threats, namely from radicalized groups and lone wolf attackers, he stressed.
"Unfortunately, both threats are very real today," de Maiziere noted, adding that it is more difficult to prevent lone wolf attacks than those prepared by terrorist groups.
On July 18, a 17-year-old Afghan asylum seeker launched an axe and knife attack on passengers of a commuter train in Bavaria, wounding five tourists. Four days later, a German of Iranian origin shot down nine people in Munich and committed suicide.
On July 24, a Syrian refugee exploded a bomb outside a music festival in Bavaria’s Ansbach, killing himself and wounding 15 bystanders, while another Syrian killed a woman with a machete in Reutlingen near Stuttgart. The Islamic State (IS) extremist group, banned in Russia, claimed responsibility for the bombing.
