SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — Three Muslim teenagers who blew up a Sikh temple in Germany were found guilty of attempted murder, aggravated assault and causing an explosion, however, it has not been deemed an act of terrorism. This despite the fact the bombers’ connections to local Salafist organizations, sympathizing with know terrorist organizations and accessing propaganda of the Islamic State.
The teenagers were tried in Germany’s youth court. Investigators were shocked the federal prosecutor did not consider the bombing to be an act of terrorism. Police Chief of Essen Frank Richter said at the time of the incident that “the accused have clear links to the terrorist scene.” Authorities also believed that the youths were not lone wolves but that the attack was planned by a Salafist group part of a wider multi-city network.
Mohammed B. from Essen and Yusuf T. from Gelsenkurchen, both of whom are 16, built and planted the explosive device. Their co-conspirator Tolga I. 17, from Schermbeck was arrested some time afterward.
The attack took place in April, the violent explosion ripped through the temple, resulting in three people being wounded and a Sikh priest being seriously injured,
Mohammed and Yusuf had originally planned to plant the bomb earlier in the day, the same time a Sikh wedding was taking place with 200 guests. However, the two were unable to sneak the bomb into the building, according to German federal prosecutors.
Prior to the bombing, the teenagers were deemed to be such a threat to society and themselves, that they were enrolled in anti-radicalization programs by local police — one of the convicted had just completed his program four days before the attack that injured three people. All three belonged to a WhatsApp group called “Supporters of the Islamic Caliphate”, whose members were teens of Turkish ethnicity who spread Islamic propaganda and ideas.
Islamic Scholar Michael Kiefer, who evaluated the WhatsApp communications, said that the attack was not a “boy’s prank,” but a terror attack, stating that the teens “were dangerous.”
