Counter extremism expert points out ‘security lapse’ in German Christmas market attack: ‘This should not happen!’
A counter-extremism expert has pointed to a significant security lapse that may have enabled Friday’s deadly car-ramming attack at a German Christmas market.
Hans-Jakob Schindler, Director of the Counter Extremism Project, told GB News: “There must have been a mistake or a gap in the security precautions.
“There have been bullets around the Christmas market in Magdeburg, but very obviously there was a gap that the perpetrator realised and drove through.
“This should not happen. Attacks like this in Germany are known scenario.
“All Christmas markets or larger gatherings of people actually have measures in place, physical measures in place to prevent exactly such a scenario.”
At least five people have been killed and more than 200 injured after a car ploughed through a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg on Friday evening.
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Among the dead were a young child and an adult, according to State Premier Reiner Haseloff.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz revealed that nearly 40 of the injured are in critical condition, with their lives still thought to be in danger.
The attack occurred when a black BMW drove at high speed for at least 400 metres across the market in the city’s central town hall square.
Surveillance footage showed the vehicle driving straight through the dense crowd.
German authorities have arrested a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who has lived in Germany since 2006 and worked at a clinic near Magdeburg.
The suspect, identified in German media as Taleb A, held a permanent residence permit and was known for his work as a rights activist supporting Saudi women.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser confirmed the suspect held “Islamophobic” views, though she declined to speculate on the motive.
According to German media reports, the man described himself as a “Saudi atheist” and had expressed increasingly radical anti-Islam views online.
He had accused previous German governments of planning to “Islamise Europe” and claimed he was being targeted by authorities.
The Bild newspaper reported that an initial drug test on the suspect had proved positive.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the attack site on Saturday, accompanied by Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and regional politicians.