German authorities are carrying out coordinated raids in several parts of the country on targets connected with an Islamic Salafist organization, Berlin police said.
The raids targeted people connected to The True Movement, led by prominent Salafist preacher Ibrahim Abou-Nagie, police told CNN. In the capital, Berlin, 200 officers took part in raids on 20 sites, police said.
Salafism is an ultrafundmentalist branch of Islam that is particularly prevalent in Saudi Arabia. Salafism is intolerant of what its adherents consider “deviant” of mainstream Sunni Islam, including Islamic sects, such as Shia Islam, as well as other world religions.
Abou-Nagie triggered national debate in Germany in 2011 when he spearheaded a drive to give a copy of the Koran to every German, Swiss and Austrian household.