Hawzah News Agency - (Berlin - Germany) - Berlin has increased security measures at mosques across the country to shore up the safety of its Muslim residents in the wake of far-right terrorism that recently rocked the country with a number of deadly attacks.

Speaking on Tuesday, State Minister of the Interior of Berlin Andreas Geisel of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) announced that mosques, particularly the larger ones, would be guarded by both uniformed and civil police officers, especially during the Friday prayers, while the police presence around mosques would be enhanced, the minister added.

Geisel underlined that measures would also be taken regarding the structure of buildings. In a reminder that previously, a protective door at a synagogue in Halle had "prevented a massacre,” the interior minister said that in order for mosques to have similar security measures as well, 10 million euros would be allocated to the 2020-2021 budget. Currently, there are 107 mosques in Berlin.

The anti-Semitic attack mentioned by the minister took place on Oct. 9 in the state of Saxony-Anhalt and involved a German man armed with explosives and a gun trying, but ultimately failing, to gain access to a synagogue in the city of Halle. Two people, a passerby and a local in a kebab shop were killed in the attack, which the man later confessed had far-right and anti-Semitic intent.

Geisel underlined that security measures would be tightened not only in the mosques but anywhere considered necessary.

“Whenever a particularly large number of people come together in rooms, we will provide increased protection. It will make no difference whether it is a mosque, a shisha bar or a cultural association,” he added. On Monday, the minister met representatives of migrant organizations to coordinate possible measures.

On Wednesday, a 43-year-old German national named Tobias Rathjen shot people of immigrant descent dead in the Frankfurt suburb of Hanau, before apparently killing his mother and himself. Five of the nine victims were reported to be Turkish citizens. Rathjen left rambling texts and videos in which he espoused racist views, calling for a genocide to occur and claiming to have been under surveillance since birth.

The attack caused dismay across the country, with politicians and citizens alike expressing shock and anguish.

Germany's top security official, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, said security would increase across the country at mosques and other "sensitive sites" in the wake of the attack: "The threat posed by far-right extremism, anti-Semitism and racism is very high in Germany," Seehofer said in Berlin.