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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
World
Al Jazeera and news agencies

Mosque in Germany attacked with Molotov bombs

The attack comes less than two weeks following a similar incident in Berlin when a mosque was set on fire [File: Getty Images]

A mosque in Ulm, a city in southern Germany, has been attacked with Molotov bombs, causing damage to the mosque that belongs to the Muslim Turkish community in the country.

Monday's attack caused no injuries to members of the community who pray at the mosque, owned by the Islamic Community National View (IGMG).

The attack comes less than two weeks after a similar incident in Germany's capital, Berlin, when a mosque was set on fire. Earlier this month, another mosque frequented by the Turkish community in Germany was also attacked.

According to Turkey's Anadolu news agency, the attack came as sympathisers with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Turkey threatened to spread more "violence" in the country, along with supporters of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) – the PKK's Syrian branch.  

The PKK has been banned in Germany since 1993, but remains active with nearly 14,000 followers in the country.

The PYD/PKK group and other organisations previously claimed responsibility for several attacks since the beginning of this year. The attacks targeted Turkish mosques, associations and shops in various cities including Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Aachen.

Germany has a three million-strong Turkish community, many of whom are second and third-generation German-born citizens of Turkish descent whose grandparents moved to the country during the 1960s.

In January, Turkish forces and rebels from Syria's Free Syrian Army launched an offensive to drive out Kurdish fighters from neighbouring Afrin in southwest Syria.

On Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Turkey had retaken Afrin from Kurdish fighters.

Ankara considers the (PYD) in Syria and its armed wing YPG to be "terrorist groups" with ties to the banned (PKK) in Turkey.

The PKK has waged a decades-long armed fight against the Turkish state that has killed tens of thousands of people.

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