BERLIN (Reuters) – The Islamic State branch known as ISIS-Khorasan, which U.S. intelligence says appears responsible for the mass shooting attack near Moscow, poses the greatest Islamist threat to security in Germany, its interior minister said on Tuesday.
“The threat level is still high,” Nancy Faeser said in a statement. “It was already high before the attacks in Moscow and has remained consistently high.”
She spoke four days after camouflage-clad gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons at concertgoers outside the Russian capital, killing at least 139 people and injuring 180 in an attack claimed by Islamic State.
Germany will introduce temporary border controls as part of ramped-up security around soccer’s 2024 European Championship that it will host this summer, she said. “Security is of course our top priority at this tournament.”
It starts on June 14 and is set to attract an estimated 2.7 million fans to stadiums and up to 12 million at public viewing events.
“We have ramped up our security measures in the police (forces), but also in the intelligence services,” Faeser said.
(Reporting by Maria Martinez; editing by Mark Heinrich)