ISIS defeated in Iraq and Syria – But threat level continues to rise
Raqqa might have fallen and the ISIS fighters driven from the city, however the problem has simply been displaced. The ISIS leadership has instructed its members to relocate to North African countries such as Libya and to regroup. They have been instructed to recruit among the refugees heading for Europe and train and radicalize such persons.
This warning comes from the head of MI5, Andrew Parker. He sees such radicalized refugees as a greater danger than the returning ISIS fighters and he forecast an increase in the likelihood of attacks on civilian targets both in the UK and continental Europe.
Many cities have realized this threat and are taking steps to secure open spaces and events such as Christmas markets in order to prevent attacks such as the one which occurred in Berlin almost exactly a Year ago. It can, given the number of barricades which have gone up in recent weeks, be assumed that such an attack is unlikely to be repeated. Islamic terrorists are flexible and they are more likely to take a different approach.
Germany has long been in the focus of Islamic terrorists and there are regular arrests of suspects. In October of this Year a Syrian national was arrested in Schwerin and is suspected of planning a bomb attack. Towards the end of November six further Syrians were detained, the police were convinced that they were planning a bomb attack on a Christmas market in Essen. The six refugees entered the country in 2014 and 2015 and the police picked up their trail after a tip off from the refugee community. However, after a short period of detention they were set free.
Barricades at Christmas markets can prevent such attacks as occurred in Berlin last year and yes, they do serve to mollify the general public. However such barricades are also a danger to the public as tests have shown. The debris created by the impact of a heavy vehicle colliding at speed with such barricades can cause equally horrific casualties. More expensive but effective solutions are being ignored by the cash-strapped authorities. Such steps provide no protection from bombs or attacks with automatic weapons. In order to truly improve security the security services and police need to investigate all those individuals who pose a threat and they also need to build up networks within the refugee community in order to quickly identify potential attackers. A top priority is also a higher degree of networking and cooperation between the police forces in the Länder , this includes the computer networks of the various police forces and the security services. Maybe it is time to dismantle some of the barricades in the minds of politicians before we can seriously start combatting and defeating Islamic terrorism in Germany.
Disclaimer: Assessments of security situations are based on the information available at the time specified and assessed as trustworthy by German Business Protection (GBP). Although the compilation of the information was handled with extreme care, GBP cannot be made responsible for the timeliness, accuracy or completeness of the article. In no event GBP can be held responsible for any damage of any kind arising from the use of the information provided here, whether direct or indirect or consequential damages, including lost profits. Hazardous situations are often confusing and can change rapidly.