Germany: Mosque evacuated over bomb threat

COLOGNE, Germany (AA) - Germany’s largest mosque in the western city of Cologne was evacuated on Tuesday following a bomb threat sent via e-mail.

Police cordoned off streets in the Ehrenfeld area of the city and evacuated the complex of Cologne Central Mosque, which is run by the Turkish-Muslim umbrella group DITIB.

The headquarters of the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB) was also evacuated.

Mosque officials said a bomb threat e-mailed by a far-right group has prompted the police response and the evacuations.

Germany has witnessed growing Islamophobia in recent years triggered by the propaganda of far-right parties and movements.

Police recorded 813 hate crimes against Muslims last year, including insults, threatening letters, physical assaults and attacks against mosques.

Germany, a country of over 81 million people, has the second-largest Muslim population in Western Europe after France. Among the country’s nearly 4.7 million Muslims, 3 million are of Turkish origin.