SERIES OF ATTACKS LEAVES GERMANY ON EDGE
SPATE OF ATTACKS
• Four attacks in a week — three of them carried out by asylum-seekers — have Germany on edge and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s policies of welcoming refugees under renewed criticism.
In the latest attack Sunday, a 27-year-old Syrian who was denied asylum pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in a video and vowed that the nation’s people “won’t be able to sleep peacefully anymore.” He then detonated a backpack of explosives and shrapnel at the entrance to an outdoor music festival in Ansbach, killing himself and wounding 15 people.
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has ordered increased security presence at airports and train stations in the wake of the attacks.
He said authorities were conducting 59 investigations of refugees suspected of possible links to terrorist organizations.
It would be wrong to put all refugees under general suspicion, “even if there are investigations in individual cases,” de Maiziere said.
He urged people not to panic, saying “naturally people are concerned and are questioning whether they should change their routines. We should not ... we should continue to live our free lives.”
The attacks are likely to inflame anti-foreigner sentiment in Germany, creating a challenge for Merkel’s government, an expert says.
Merkel could face increased calls for tighter border security and greater vetting of arrivals, even though the flow of migrants and asylum-seekers has slowed drastically, said Florian Otto, an analyst with the risk consultants Verisk Maplecrof.
Although it’s too soon to say whether these attacks would threaten Merkel’s chances of staying in power after federal elections next year, “she will face more pressure and scrutiny for her immigration policies,” Otto said.
Anxiety over Germany’s ability to cope with last year’s flood of more than one million registered asylumseekers surged following a series of sexual assaults and robberies in Cologne during New Year celebrations.
The deadliest attack came Friday night in Munich. A German-born 18-yearold son of Iranian asylumseekers shot and killed nine people.
Also Sunday, a 21-year-old Syrian used a machete to kill a 45-year-old Polish woman in the southern city of Reutlingen. Authorities said assailant and victim knew each other and the incident was not related to terrorism.
The bloodshed began July 18, when a 17-year-old from Afghanistan wielding an axe attacked people on a train near Wuerzburg, wounding five people before he was shot to death by police. ISIL claimed responsibility.