UPDATE - Germany: Mosque evacuated over bomb threat

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS ON POLICE RESPONSE, ADDS BACKGROUND

COLOGNE, Germany (AA) - Germany’s largest mosque in the western city of Cologne was evacuated on Thursday following a telephone bomb threat.

Cologne Central Mosque officials told Anadolu Agency that the mosque complex, which houses the headquarters of Turkish-Muslim umbrella group DITIB, was evacuated this afternoon after receiving a bomb threat via telephone.

Police cordoned off the mosque complex and began a thorough search of the buildings.

It was the second time in four months Cologne Central Mosque has been threatened with a bomb attack.

In June, an email containing a bomb threat had forced the evacuation of visitors and staff at the mosque complex. After a thorough search, police determined the threat was a hoax.

Germany has witnessed growing Islamophobia in recent years triggered by the propaganda of far-right parties, and more than 100 mosques and religious institutions were attacked by by far-right extremists in 2018.

Police recorded 813 hate crimes against Muslims last year, including insults, threatening letters and physical assaults. At least 54 Muslims were injured in the attacks.

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.