German policemen
© Sven Friebe / AFP
German police have launched a large-scale operation targeting Islamists across ten German federal states, the country's Interior Ministry (Bundesministeriums des Innern) reported on Tuesday.

According to the German media, police are searching offices and mosques believed to have links to the Islamist missionary network 'The True Religion,' which is known to have been distributing free Korans at infostands throughout Germany.


Germany's Interior Ministry banned the organization on Tuesday morning.The media states that the group advocates armed jihad and supports terrorist organizations, citing law enforcement authorities.


Authorities believe over 500 people to be part of the group, which has some 60 local initiatives throughout the country. The investigators are reportedly after the group's founder, Abou-Nagie, an Islamist hate preacher of Pakistani origin who lives in Cologne. His home in Cologne has been searched, as well as his girlfriend's in Bonn.

In total, some 200 mosques, offices, and apartments associated with the group have reportedly been searched in 10 federal states.

Die Welt reports that the raids were carried out in Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria, Lower Saxony and Hamburg. The operation is also being carried out in the capital, Berlin.

There have been no reports of arrests as of yet.

The group is widely known for its 'Lies!' (read) initiative, which distributes free copies of the Koran while calling on Germans to "read the noble" book.

This morning, apparently in response to the police operation, they wrote a post declaring that "Germany has banned the Koran."


The 'Lies!' activists have reportedly distributed around 3.5 million copies of the Koran in Germany so far. Authorities in some German cities have banned their actions, but activists have often ignored them, and distributed the books from backpacks and bags in response.

Die Welt reported that numerous young Muslims have been radicalized during the Koran distribution campaigns, citing a study from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). At least 140 'Lies!' activists and supporters are said to have already moved to Syria and Iraq to fight alongside the jihadists. Some terror suspects in Essen, who participated in a bomb attack on a Sikh temple in April, were previously known as 'Lies!' activists.