
Followers of "Leipzig's Europeans against the Islamization of the West" (LEGIDA) holding a Germany's national flag attend a demonstration in Leipzig, Germany, on Jan. 11, 2016. (Xinhua/Zhang Fan)
BERLIN, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of attacks on Muslims have been reported in Germany over a three months period in 2017, the newspaper Osnabruecker Zeitung reported Friday.
The Muslims in questions were either abused verbally, attacked physically or had their possessions damaged, and all attacks were carried out because of the victim's choice of religion. Two people were injured in the towns of Baden-Wuerttemberg and Hesse.
The German Police and the Federal Office of the Protection of the Constitution also report that the vast majority of the Islamophobic incidents were perpetrated by right-wing extremists.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg," the Central Council of Muslims (ZMD) in Germany said. Further evidence strongly indicates that the 200 attacks are among many others that are not reported.
The government report is the first of its kind in Germany and so authorities are unable to currently analyze if there has been a comparative rise from the previous quarter.
Germany has suffered from rising levels of social tensions after Chancellor Angela Merkel granted one million refugees asylum in Germany in 2015.
However, attacks on mosques have fallen to the same lows as before the refugee crisis. According to governmental figures, 15 attacks were reported this quarter, including desecration and damage of mosques, in comparison to 27 attacks in the fourth quarter of 2016.
A decline in anti-Islamic demonstration has also been reported; 32 were reported in the first quarter of 2017 compared to 80 rallies this time last year.
Ulle Jelpke, domestic affairs spokesperson for Germany's Die Linke (The Left) party, urged communities to work harder together to stop youth radicalization based on Islamophobic experiences.