Is Germany prepared for Islamist attacks?

This is a 6-minute read

DECEMBER 21, 2016 - BERLIN: flowers and candles after the terror attack on the Christmas holiday market a day before, Breitscheidplatz © hanohiki / shutterstock

On December 19th, 2016 a young Tunisian called Anis Amri hijacked a truck in west Berlin. After shooting the driver, he bulldozed the vehicle into a busy Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz, one of the city’s main squares.

Twelve people lost their lives. Dozens more were injured. Amri was able to flee, but died in a shootout with cops at a Milan railway station four days later.

It was the worst act of Islamist terror in German history but was the just last of six jihadi attacks in a year which one intelligence officer described as “a never-ending series of tip offs and planned attacks.”

In the autumn of 2015, the Islamic State managed to smuggle dozens of jihadists into the country disguised as refugees. Deadlier attacks than Amri’s were foiled.

Since 2016 things have been much quieter. But a new wave of violence has led people to…