Berlin Half-Marathon ‘Terror’ Attack Thwarted

• Security forces thwarted an attempted attack at the Berlin half-marathon on 08 April 2018.
• Six people were detained over plans to attack runners with knives.
• The arrests came just a day after a non-terror vehicle ramming attack in Münster which killed two people and injured at least 20 more.

Terrorism: Police detained six people on the eve of Berlin’s half-marathon on 08 April 2018 for planning what has been described as a terror attack. Security forces in Berlin have suggested that the six planned to attack runners and spectators at the event with knives. The arrests were made in the districts of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and Neukoelln in the capital. Reports indicate that the main suspect knew Anis Amri, the Tunisian national who killed 12 people and injured many more when he drove a truck into a Berlin Christmas market in December 2016; at least two knives were also reportedly found at this property. Those arrested had been under 24-hour observation for the last two weeks; a foreign intelligence service had tipped off German authorities of the potential for an attack during the race.

Police have been reluctant to call this an attempted terror attack at this time, suggesting instead a ‘crime’ was being planned. Police have also reported that there was no imminent threat to runners or spectators, and the race took place without incident. The exact nature of the threat posed by those arrested is apparently unclear at this time.

The Berlin half-marathon is the largest of its kind in Germany. A record 36,000 athletes had entered the race, with thousands more spectators lining the route. Around 630 police officers were deployed to guard the race.

Tensions remain high in Germany at this time, especially considering the vehicle ramming attack in Münster on 07 April 2018. While police have reported that the attacker suffered from mental health issues, the incident possessed the hallmarks of a low-technology terror attack as seen in Nice (France), Las Ramblas in Barcelona (Spain), London (UK), and the Berlin Christmas market attacks.

No terror attack has been reported in Germany since the aforementioned Christmas Market attack in December 2016. After this incident, tougher security measures were implemented across the country which has led to security forces preventing such planned attacks as those on the Berlin half-marathon.

Authorities in Germany estimate that there may be as many as 10,000 radical Islamists in Germany, some 1,600 of whom are suspected of being potentially violent. President Merkel’s political opponents, notably the far-right AfD, have argued that the security situation in Germany has worsened since the arrival of around one million migrants and refugees in 2015.