Former counter-terrorism chief’s stark warning after Germany mass stabbing: ‘We have a problem right across Europe’
A former counter terrorism security chief has warned of a knife crime problem spreading “right across Europe”, following a mass stabbing incident in Germany.
Three people have been killed and four more have been left “seriously” injured after an unknown suspect stabbed passers-by who were attending a “diversity festival” in Solingen.
Police are still actively searching for the suspected knife attacker after nine people were stabbed in the incident.
Speaking to GB News, former head of the National Counter Terrorism Security Office Chris Phillips warned that attacks of this nature are “very difficult to stop”.
Phillips explained: “This is yet another incident or terrorist attack at a festival, and we’ve seen a number of those just in the past few months. Taylor Swift’s concert was cancelled because of a terrorism threat in Vienna.
“So once again, festivals are being targeted.”
Detailing the city centre location of the attack in Germany, Phillips told GB News that the business of the festival “presents all sorts of difficulties” in finding the perpetrator.
Phillips said: “I think the key point here is that this is a city centre festival, rather than something being held in a stadium. And of course, that presents all sorts of difficulties for those trying to catch the perpetrator.”
Highlighting the growing threat of terrorism across Europe in recent years, Phillips stressed that although the motive of this attack is not confirmed, terrorism will become a prominent issue for “generations to come”.
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Phillips said: “The trouble with terrorism, it’s going to pop up right across Europe and it will do for a generation to come, there’s no doubt about that.
“There’s individuals within societies in Germany, France, Austria and within the UK who see that terrorism is the answer.”
Phillips also questioned the level of security at the festival, adding: “The key point is, were the security teams actually doing their job properly? The fact that this guy’s got away tends to make me think that that maybe they weren’t completely prepared for this kind of incident.
“But as I say, when something like this happens, it’s always very difficult to find one person in a group of 50 or 60,000.”
GB News host Ben Leo shared his thoughts on the tragic incident and admitted that the surge in random knife attacks feels like a “hopeless” situation.
Phillips responded: “It is a hopeless situation because attacks like this are one person who’s got a kitchen knife, who decides to go out and kill people. It’s just another horrendous part of society.
“I think from a terrorism perspective, we have got a problem right across Europe. I don’t think it’s just in the UK, we focus generally on the UK, but actually France have had far more terrorist attacks than we have over the last five years.”
Phillips continued: “And it is a situation that we’re going to have to deal with. I’m not sure what the answer is to these lone attacks, because an individual can pick up a knife and can go and do it.”