Germany: More bomb threats against schools and public sites

Schools and other public institutions across Germany were once again the target of anonymous bomb threats on Friday.

Several schools were evacuated after receiving threats via email. Often unclear, these have mostly made reference to the war in Gaza, though some have pointed to the war in Ukraine as well.

"At the moment, we cannot conclusively say whether the threats have an extremist aim or if we are simply dealing with copycats who are trying to make their threats more ominous by citing Hamas," said an Interior Ministry spokesperson Friday.

The Interior Ministry said investigations into the threats were being carried out by the states, but noted that a federal data collection service had been created at the start of the war in Gaza in what it called, "a normal police practice."

Serious threats, antisemitism, or 'swatting'?

Despite numerous institutions being evacuated and searched with detection dogs, none of the threats have ultimately turned out to be serious — suggesting a phenomenon known in the US as "swatting," which involves tricking law enforcement into responding to a false threat.

On Friday, the city hall and at least two schools were closed in eastern Thuringia, at least six schools were evacuated in southwestern Baden-Wuerttemberg, at least one in southern Bavaria and another in western North Rhine-Westphalia.

A spokesperson for the Baden-Württemberg state police on Friday said, "We are looking extremely closely and check the authenticity of every mail."

Felix Klein, Germany's antisemitism commissioner, said that if such threats ultimately prove to have links to Hamas, it would be "a sign that antisemitism is attacking the whole of our society, not just Jews."

Klein called the nationwide threats a "reprehensible attempt at intimidation, aimed at our liberal society."

The phenomenon is not limited to Germany. Neighboring France has a similar problem. On Thursday, for instance, several regional airports across the country had to be closed.

France's Transport Ministry said a total of 70 threats had been made against regional airports last week, most via a Swiss email address. 

js/jcg (AFP, dpa)

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