Germany is now fighting back against the threats of terrorism with the launch of its new division, the anti-terror cops.
The country is said to be spending millions of dollars on this campaign, with almost $5M spent on equipment alone for Hamburg police officers. Equipment purchased include 280 Haenel assault rifles, heavy-duty ballistic protection helmets and body armor, and a heavily-armored vehicle called the Survivor One.
The new equipment features helmets and body armor that can withstand a full round of fires from an AK-47 rifle; and the Survivor One vehicle can survive chemical and nuclear attacks, and is able to protect its passengers.
These are new measures being taken by the German government, a decision made recently amidst the threats of ISIS attacks. With Merkel's open-door policy, the threats for the country has proved to be far more serious and intense as was initially expected. These threats have caused anti-immigration sentiments in Germany, and have even been represented by a mainstream right-wing populist party called Alternative for Germany (AfD), established in Stuttgart.
"The truth is that the AfD belongs to Germany-as bad as that sounds. It has emerged from within German society," as Huffington Post's Sebastian Christ says.
Events leading to the establishment of the anti-terror cops program began when the 2016 New Year's Eve celebration in Cologne was met with sexual attacks and crowd violence instigated by the newly welcomed immigrants, most of them from North Africa.
This event led to German police raiding areas in Dresden, Leipzig, Pirna, Radeberg in East Saxony, and Thuringia in West Rhineland-Palatinate, housing asylum seekers who are alleged members of the Chechen crime ring. This was back in July.
In October, police raids were again made in Saxony, Thuringia, Bavaria, Hamburg, and North Rhine-Westphalia to address the allegations with some housing asylum seekers involved in financing terrorism.
On that same month, two teenagers, aged 15 and 16, were attacked by still an unknown assailant who fled from the scene after stabbing the 16-year old boy, and pushing the 15-year old girl in the water. ISIS news agency Aaman claimed that one of their members was responsible for the attack.
Just this November, a 16-year old German-Moroccan girl allegedly stabbed a police officer in Hannover for reasons still unknown. She is currently on trial. Another Syrian migrant was arrested when his bomb attack was sacked. He killed himself while in prison.
The country's challenges are far from over. "We cannot and do not want to tolerate such action in Germany. We do not want that terrorism takes place in Germany or spreads from Germany," Germany's Interior Minister Thomas De Maiziere says.
