A leading counter-terrorism expert has called for urgent reforms in Germany following three attacks in as many months, with the latest suspected terror incident unfolding in Munich on Thursday.
The expert’s comments come after a car rammed into protesters in central Munich – leaving 28 people injured.
Two people are fighting for their lives and 26 others were injured after a Mini Cooper ploughed into a crowd of trade union protesters in Munich.
Speaking to GB News, Hans Jakob Schindler said: “Clearly, there is a very tragic situation in Germany.
The Counter-Terror expert called for urgent reform in Germany’s migration system
GB News
“We had now three attacks in three months, one in December by someone who’s been living here in Germany for many, many years was an anti-islamist.
“Now what seems to be two Islamist inspired attacks. That really shows a couple of things. So number one, of course, a reform of the migration system, both on the inflow as well as on the extradition procedures is definitely necessary.
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“Just before the Parliament went into recess for the federal elections in ten years, in ten days, there was a parliamentary debate on the reform, which unfortunately did not result in the adoption of new measures.
“We have to really contend with the fact that we do have far larger terrorist organisations with far less operational pressure on them in their core areas, whether it’s Afghanistan, whether it’s Africa or the Middle East, which means they have because we all withdrew from these areas, we were no longer prepared to fight terrorism there.
“So we have to be prepared to fight terrorism here more than we used to in the past. And we have a social media environment which basically is not inhibiting any of these radicalisation processes.
“In fact, their algorithms technically support and make those radicalisation processes more effective.
“These are all of the various different angles where reform is desperately necessary in Germany, but also in, you know, the European Union as a whole.”
The incident, which Bavarian governor Markus Söder said was “suspected to be an attack”, occurred around 10.30am on Seidlstrasse.
Children were among those hurt when the vehicle drove into demonstrators linked with the Verdi trade union.
A 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker has been detained in connection with the incident, which is now being investigated by counter-terrorism police.
The Bavarian Central Office for Combating Extremism and Terrorism is leading the investigation, state minister Georg Eisenreich confirmed.
A view of the scene after a car plowed into a crowd in the southern German city of MunichGettyAccording to witnesses, the Mini Cooper overtook a police car that was following the demonstration before ramming into the protesters. Police fired a shot at the vehicle during the incident, though it remains unclear if the suspect was wounded.
“Suddenly there was an engine roar behind us, wheels spinning and then there was just a clattering,” witness Udo Kunte told Merkur newspaper.
Another demonstrator told Bayerischer Rundfunk: “I was in the demonstration and saw that a man was lying under the car. Then I tried to open the door, but it was locked.”
The suspect was already known to police for drug-related offences and shoplifting, according to Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann.