For the third time in a week, Germany has come under attack. On this occasion, a Syrian asylum seeker blew himself up outside a festival in the Bavarian town of Ansbach. Twelve people were injured in the incident last night but thankfully no one else was killed.
It’s still too early to tell what the motive for the attack was but one thing does seem clear: nerves in Germany are fraying. Sadly, the latest incident was carried out by a man who was given shelter by a country which took in 1.1million asylum seekers last year. The man responsible for the attack had recently been told his claim for asylum had been rejected – but that means little in Germany, where half of those who had their claims rejected were allowed to stay put anyway. In this case, the bomber was given an apartment in Ansbach after being granted temporary leave to remain in Germany as a result of the Syrian civil war.
So what will Germany do next? Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said that the attack showed the importance of ‘strengthening controls on those we have living in our country’. For many, such sentiment means little and it won’t do much to stem a rising tide of both fear and anger.
UPDATE: A video found on the bomber’s phone shows the man pledging allegiance to IS. Police said the clip of the man included a threat to carry out a ‘revenge attack’ on Germans.
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