German offifficials vow tighter security, migrant controls

BERLIN — German offifficials vowed tighter security and called for tougher controls of asylum-seekers Tuesday in the aftermath of four attacks in the country in the span of a week, two of which were claimed by the Islamic State extremist group.

The attacks left 10 dead and dozens wounded and have rekindled concerns about Germany’s ability to cope with the estimated 1 million migrants registered entering the country last year.

“The Islamic State is waging a brutal war of aggression ... against our way of life,” said Joachim Herrmann, the top security official in Bavaria, where three of the attacks took place.

In the most recent attack claimed by the Islamic State, a Syrian man on Sunday blew himself up outside a crowded music festival in the Bavarian city of Ansbach, injuring 15 people. The man had unsuccessfully tried to fifind asylum in Germany and was awaiting deportation.

I n t h e o t h e r a t t a c k , a 1 7- y e a r - o l d A f g h a n a s y - lum-seeker wounded five people with an ax before being killed by police near the Bavarian city of Wuerzburg.

In the deadliest attack in the past week, the 18-yearold son of Iranian immigrants went on a rampage at a Munich mall, killing nine people and wounding dozens. Authorities say he was undergoing psychiatric treatment and had no known links to terrorism.

On Sunday, hours before the Ansbach attack, a Syrian man killed a woman with a knife in the southwestern cit y of Reutlingen before being captured by police in an incident authorities also say was not believed linked to terrorism.

Herrmann said changes need to be made to laws — possibly at the European level — to allow for quicker deportation of people like the Ansbach attacker, while authorities in Germany need to investigate how the man, known as Mohammad Daleel, was able to collect enough material to make at least two bombs in his room in an asylum-seeker home.

“The people of our country cannot be expected to fifinance the protection of people who violate the law with their tax money,” he said.

Most of the immigrants entering Germany last year came through Bavaria, and Bavarian authorities have been particularly critical of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open- door policies. Concerns had died down as the flflood of newcomers slowed dramatically, but the recent attacks have rekindled the debate over how Germany can best cope with the numbers.

Speaking alongside Herrmann at a press conference in the town of Gmund am Tegernsee before a state cabinet meeting, Bavarian governor Horst Seehofer and state Justice Minister Winfried Bausback rattled off a l aundr y- l i s t of proposals, including adding more police, relaxing privacy laws to make it easier for authorities to observe online data like email and WhatsApp and Skype messages, better background checks on asylum seekers, and allowing the military to be called in to help during terrorist attacks.

“We need to do whatever is necessary to protect our citizens,” Seehofer said.