German troops' ongoing peace-keeping mission abroad is heightening the risk of terrorist attacks on the nation, said German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, according to a report in Sunday's edition of the Die Welt newspaper.

"We are part of the global threat from Islamist terrorism," Schaeuble told Die Welt, referring to the abduction of two Germans in Iraq by terrorists who demanded German troops withdraw from Afghanistan.

In early February, German Hannelore Krause Kadhim, 61, and her son Sinana, 20, were abducted in Baghdad, after which the kidnappers have twice set ultimatums that Germany withdraw its 3,000 troops from Afghanistan.

Although the second deadline has run out, the German government has refused to bow to the demands.

German officials in a foreign ministry crisis team working to rescue the hostages have said they have not given up hope, but are "greatly concerned."

Source: Xinhua