A Syrian “refugee” living with his family in Seevetal, a suburb of Hamburg, was determined to be a former mujahid and driver for Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria. On Monday armed officers from police special forces raided his house in an affluent suburb and took him into custody. Similar raids at other locations bagged more of his relatives and comrades-in-arms.
Egri Nök, who translated the article below about the arrest in Seevetal, includes this explanatory note:
The media writers stress “the North”, I think, sort of in amazement/disbelief, because in Northern Germany, there are more sheep than human inhabitants. You would not expect terrorists there.
Three things struck me about this:
1. The house is very, very, very… expensive. Average Germans cannot afford such a house. You can see in the details, however, such as the grass growing on the sidewalk in front of the house, that the inhabitants did not care. The paving blocks in the driveway look shabby, too Still, this is a very, very expensive house, in an affluent neighbourhood within short driving distance from Hamburg. Which usually makes such houses sought-after.
2. This is in the district of Harburg, where the 9/11 guys lived and studied (the press usually says Hamburg, but only because no-one knows the name of that suburb of Hamburg). 3. The nice family father just got his driver’s license. A driver’s license is €2,000 in Germany. A lot of money for his situation (refugee, deliveryman).
The translated article from Bild:
Special Forces Operation in the North
Four terror suspects arrested
[Photo caption: heavily armed officers secure the entrance door of the home]
June 12, 2017
Seevetal: Strike at Sunrise!
Officers of the SEK [German special police forces] charged the house of a Syrian refugee family in Seevetal (Landkreis Harburg) Monday morning at 4:40.
Anti Terror Raid in the North!
[Photo caption: Blindfolded, the family father is driven away. (not shown)]
In the early morning hours, numerous unmarked cars and police cars drove into the quiet neighborhood of the 40,000-inhabitant community Seevetal, south of Hamburg. All through roads were blocked off, then heavily armed officers stormed the house.
Shortly thereafter, the family father was led away blindfolded, and interrogated in an unmarked car, before being driven away. Then, detection dogs searched the house. Family members were questioned.
According to “NonstopNews”, neighbours describe the man as friendly and unassuming. He has been living there with his family since September 2015. Lately, he has been working as a delivery driver, and got his driver’s license especially for that.
[Photo caption: officers standing in front of the house in Seevetal.]
At the same time, in Hamburg and Lübeck, three further suspects were arrested. Mustafa K. (41), Abdullah K. (39), Sultan K. (44) and Ahmed K. (51) are strongly suspected to have been members of the terrorist organization “Jabhat al-Nusra” (JaN) and to have violated the War Weapons Control Act. Three of those arrested are allegedly brothers. It was neither confirmed nor denied that the fourth was part of the family, too.
Mustafa K. and Sultan K. allegedly expelled persons protected under humanitarian international law and sacked their property. Therefore the arrest warrant also lays charges of war crimes against them.
[Photo caption: several ambulances stand by in Seevetal. (not shown)]
The four men allegedly joined JaN in Syria in early November 2012. From then on, JaN was involved in armed conflict with government troops in the Northern Syrian town Ra’s al-’Ain. Mustafa K. made his house at the northeastern district available as base for JaN. Furthermore, he and his brothers Abdullah K. and Ahmed K. performed driving services for the organization.
All suspects will be presented to the investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice on Tuesday.
The house doesn’t look very nice to me. I guess Germany must be hurting more economically than the press reveals if a home like this is considered luxurious. And having to pay that much for a drivers license! That’s crazy!
I’d say it is a typical german family house, built some 30 40 years ago. It is a big house, so luxury depends on how many syrians you can fit in it. Judging from the materials used and the size of it – it is an expensive house.
Don’t be fooled by its dull appearance. In our part of the world, you judge houses by the “time remaining until next renovation”, and this one seems to be ready for a couple of decades to come.
This type of housing is quit common in rural Germany. The landscaping in front of it must have cost a bundle and looks mature but unkempt. I estimate the house to be about 10 years old.
The two letter boxes in front of it suggests the house is now subdivided (upper en lower portion) and two families living there each having their separate entrance.
Originally it would have been a single family dwelling.
This type of housing may look unassuming but can be quite luxurious on the inside.
the house is huge,but not by rural standards.It is from the sixties or early seventies and certainly no high- end item, rather genteel.However, I would not expect a delivery driver with refugee background to be accomodated like this.And a drivers license does coast around 2K, mostly for the big number of lessons they make you take.