‘Devout Muslim’ kills two US airmen in Germany

According to The Associated Press, a “devout Muslim” man shot and killed two US airmen today at an airport terminal in Frankfurt, Germany. The gunman, who appears to be named Arid Uka and was born in either Kosovo or Germany, boarded a bus that carried a group of airmen who had just arrived at the airport to be transported to Ramstein Air Base, and then were to be deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan. Uka is said to have had an argument with some of the airmen, then boarded the bus and opened fire. AP has more on Uka:

Kosovo Interior Minister Bajram Rexhepi identified the suspect as Arif Uka, a Kosovo citizen from the northern town of Mitrovica.

In Mitrovica, family members identified him as Arid Uka, saying that he was born and educated in Germany where his family moved some 40 years ago. However, German police said he was born in Kosovo.

An uncle, Rexhep Uka, said the suspect’s grandfather was a religious leader at a mosque in a village near Mitrovica.

And more on Mitrovica:

The northern town of Mitrovica is best known for the ethnic division between majority ethnic Albanians and minority Serbs. The former mining town has also been the focus of reports that it breeds Islamic extremists.

Western intelligence reports have said the region could be a recruitment ground for Muslims with Western features who could easily blend into European or U.S. cities and carry out terrorist attacks.

Expect links to terror groups, likely the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan or the Islamic Jihad Group, to emerge. The Balkans, along with Chechnya, were one of the first theaters for al Qaeda in the early 1990s. More recently, the IMU and IJU both have made inroads in Germany and have been plotting to carry out attacks there. A series of Predator strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas last fall targeted IMU and IJU cells that were actively plotting to strike on the European continent.

Also keep in mind that in 2007, German authorities foiled a massive Islamic Jihad Group plot to carry out terror attacks on US military targets at Frankfurt and Ramstein. Two German converts to Islam and a Turkish man were arrested for plotting the attacks.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

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15 Comments

  • Charu says:

    Ah, Kosovo, the birthplace of Serbia, which we in our infinite wisdom decided to bequeath to the encroaching Albanians. So, how many Serb gumen have shot at our troops?
    What’s next? Carve out an independent Londonistan or Eurabia once the numbers reach the tipping point, and then wonder why we’re still being attacked? Pakistan hungers for Indian Kashmir, which once had a sizable Hindu population until they were mostly ethically cleansed, and still contains pockets of Buddhists who stand no chance of survival once their peaceful ancient culture is subjected to blasphemy laws. But yet our senior diplomats and military consuls repeatedly hint that everything in AfPak would be solved once Pakistan got its paws on Indian Kashmir. Just like how the ISI will be entirely trustworthy once we exchange Aafiya for Davis.

  • Katharina Sri (ex Noor Aza) says:

    And then the future winning/ruling German Left Coalition wants more Islam and Arab/Turkish Muslim migrants! See how the coalition of the Islam-loving Left/Centre-Left Greens and SPD might win the next election in Germany – at: SPD flying high after Guttenberg scandal and Hamburg victory in: http://www.thelocal.de/politics/20110302-33445.html ! Europe/North America are definitely being Arabicized/Islamicized – see the slavery mentality of the Western Left movement to Islam in Germany at http://islamineurope.blogspot.com/2011/01/rhineland-palatinate-ministry-wants.html
    Monday, January 17, 2011
    Rhineland-Palatinate: Ministry wants schools to be Islam-friendly
    The Culture Ministry of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, led by the SPD, plans Islam-friendly classes, reports news magazine Focus, based on a circular currently being distributed to teachers.
    The guidelines recommend offering sex-ed in gender-homogeneous groups and segregated gym and swimming classes from puberty. School trips should, as much as possible, not be planned for the month of Ramadan. The sensitivities of Muslims should be taken into account when planning internships and school events. Fasting could lead to loss of performance and concentration among the students, the authors warn. It is difficult if they have to deal with a lot of schoolwork during Ramadan, and so flexible solutions should be found.
    Malte Bl

  • DevoutMuslim says:

    ‘And fight in the Way of Allah those who fight you, but transgress not the limits. Truly, Allah likes not the transgressors.’ Qur’aan 2:190
    This is considered terror attack, while robots firing Hellfire missiles into mud buildings is considered legit warfare.
    See here:
    http://img846.imageshack.us/f/child.jpg/
    http://img847.imageshack.us/i/child2.jpg/
    http://img192.imageshack.us/i/child3y.jpg/
    http://img156.imageshack.us/i/child4.jpg/
    http://img819.imageshack.us/i/child5.jpg/
    Once you realize that your actions will have consequences, and that the people of Islam don’t turn the other cheek, as the Lord of everything commanded us… you will be safer, if you check your actions.

  • ArneFufkin says:

    I’d feel better with our miliatry installations in places like Poland, Hungary or Romania than overrun Muslim immigrant enclaves like Germany and the UK at this point. Our deployed European troops will require hazard pay pretty soon.

  • jim says:

    Looks like we picked the wrong side in the Serb/Albanian fighting. Trying to help the Muslims is a lost cause, they are certainly our enemy.

  • Wasntacrusader-untilnow says:

    @DevoutMuslim
    So you hit me and I hit you back? That’s what this is? Where did it start huh? Who hit first and when? Just curious what YOU think?

  • blert says:

    DM
    The Taliban have been noted by local residents for knocking children unconscious and placing them in and around their firing positions.
    Next they attack the ISAF vigorously.
    When counter fire levels the building/mosque their tiny bodies are found in the rubble — and make for excellent propaganda.
    ——
    General Patraeus tells of Taliban gambits such as telling parents to burn their children and blame the injuries on ISAF air strikes when they are brought to the hospital.
    Some of these tales are coming from ex-Taliban!
    You see, it’s just too dangerous to fight the USMC — so the Taliban attack the children and blame the Americans.
    The local Afghans are wise to the gambit and are horrified of such ‘suggestions.’
    At all times the Taliban tries to surround themselves with local boys. The most recent tragedy — wood collecting boys shot to pieces on a mountainside — smacks of this gambit.
    The Taliban knew that laden children are slow targets. So they fired off rockets / mortars from where the kids were — and then ran for deep cover.
    The whole operation worked like a charm — for the Taliban.
    This tactic frustrates American airpower. The ISAF had better get wise to it.

  • Zeissa says:

    Devout Muslim, posting pictures of random or collated wounded children and calling the AQT compounds ‘mud huts’ to elicit sympathy does not an argument make. It’s propaganda lacking substance and even minimum coherence.
    Those who bother to focus on empirical facts in these wars all know the civilian casualties of the drone campaigns are exceptionally low, that Muslims target civilians more frequently than most cultures/religions and that you follow a warlike, biased faith that encourages lying to the Kafir.

  • Gaz says:

    When someone kills two uniformed members of a military about to be deployed to an ongoing occupation of a Muslim nation that person is a crazed fanatic committing an act of terrorism.
    And when 9 Afghan boys collecting firewood are literally shot to pieces by a NATO Helicopter gunship, well, these things happen.
    I’m sure incidents like the former have nothing to do with incidents like the latter.

  • James says:

    @ Charu
    I couldn’t agree with you any more Charu.
    What thanks do we get for helping the plight of abused Muslims in this world?
    They fly planes into our buildings and slaughter the likes of innocent civilians on a regular basis including fire fighters and civilian police personnel not only from our Country but also from a multitude of other nations.
    This just appalls me. Like our (and Great Britian’s) recognizing the [so-called] ‘nation’ of Croatia.
    Let’s let Hillary etc. know that they got NO BUSINESS meddling in India’s internal affairs.
    I’m not of Indian descent but I would love to be the first to join you in the protests of making the foregoing point so obvious to DC.

  • Sharpshot says:

    “With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil, that takes religion.”
    Steven Weinberg
    This applies to any religion. Sectarian violence is the pit of our society.

  • BrotnosaurusRex says:

    DevoutMuslim, I’m curious how you feel about the Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan who use suicide bombs not to kill coalition troops, but other Muslims?

  • steve says:

    Gaz, Your comments are just short of incoherent and are completely void of fact. The only thing close to making sense is the fact that you inadvertently noticed the needless deaths 11 people.

  • James says:

    Gaz and DevoutMuslim,
    To kill innocent civilians accidentally and to mass slaughter innocent civilians deliberately are two different things.
    Concerning your pics you submitted above, how about a source and giving the details of the alleged crimes(s), not just the BALD allegation(s) of mass murder?
    Also, just who and/or what does the symbol in the upper-right corner of the pics represent?

  • Neonmeat says:

    @ Devout Muslim I think we must face the facts that both sides of this conflict have committed acts that can be considered atrocities.
    We have to try and see this objectionally which DevoutMuslim clearly doesn’t and he/she has obviously fallen foul of propaganda.
    I use this website because it clearly states facts on the whole without bias. I respect your argument but you need to back up your wild statements with sources so we can believe it as well as see it, please reply to this I want to know where you got these photos from and when they were taken, and by who and for what purpose.
    It seems to me however that away from all this ideological bickering the difference on the ground in this conflict is that although ISAF makes mistakes and does kill civilians it DOES NOT do so intentionally, whereas we only have to look at one of the main stories on LWJ today and we can see that Muslim terrorists once again DELIBERATELY targeted civilians in their holy place, the Mosque, and caused untold damage and loss of life, I will state again they killed Muslims deliberately!
    Devout Muslim I would love it if you could respond to the above, why have they done this? Can you understand what this means for the validity of your argument?
    @ DevoutMuslim if I get any pics I will send them to you and perhaps you can include them in your next mindless diatribe to show the other side of the picture?

Iraq

Islamic state

Syria

Aqap

Al shabaab

Boko Haram

Isis