Terrorism researcher: lone perpetrators with vague motives

Personal motives have played a role alongside ideology in several Islamist terrorist attacks in Germany in the past five years, according to a terrorism expert.

Martin Kahl, from the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg, took part in a press conference organized by the Integration Media Service on Thursday.

He told journalists that although the perpetrators were integrated into "ideological narratives" that were circulating worldwide, one could get the impression "that in some cases the perpetrators hope to find a way out of their own life crises through their actions".

Often, he said, the perpetrators' own circumstances, which they themselves judge to be unsatisfactory and which play an important role in planning the act, are supplemented by an Islamist motive with the aim of "giving the act more significance".

The perpetrators often seek to boost their own self-confidence and become famous.

In some cases, it is also difficult for the courts to determine whether ideology is really the main motive. "It can be so interwoven that it is almost impossible to separate it," said Kahl.

The suspects involved in the last four attacks that were allegedly motivated by religion - in Mannheim, Solingen, Munich and Berlin - were not found to have any severe mental disorders.

While in the past, Western military interventions such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan were the main trigger for Islamist terrorists, experts believe that later on, Mohammed caricatures and the burning of the Koran played a greater role.

Between 2014 and 2017, attacks were carried out in connection with the terrorist group Islamic State (IS). According to Kahl, IS ideology remains a point of reference. However, the most recent attacks in Germany, which he says were all carried out by "lone operators" with rather vague motives, had little or no connection to terrorist groups.

Since 2015, Kahl and his team have documented a total of 15 Islamist terrorist attacks in Germany, as well as four failed attacks, 33 suspected cases and 33 attacks that were prevented by the security authorities in the planning or preparation phase