Die Tageszeitung, July 25

The Monday edition of Berlin-based daily Die Tageszeitung shows how, in the span of just a few days, Germans are suddenly faced with terrorism and attempted mass killings. With a photograph of survivors exiting from Friday's deadly attack in a Munich shopping center, the newspaper asks how to react to any such mass killing attack.

Friday's attack, which left nine dead, was indeed not carried out in the name of Islam — unlike others that have struck Germany in the past week. Yet, another attack came late Sunday when a Syrian migrant set off an explosion in southern Germany near a music festival in the city of Ansbach, which killed himself and wounded a dozen others. According to Bavaria's interior minister, the attacker was driven by religious extremism.

The perpetrator was denied asylum in the country a year ago, although he was allowed to remain in Germany because of the ongoing conflict in Syria, and was about to be deported to Bulgaria. The man had repeatedly received psychiatric treatment, and previously attempted suicide.

This is the fourth attack in a week in Germany. A 21-year-old Syrian refugee was arrested on Sunday after killing a pregnant woman and injuring two other people with a machete near Stuttgart. The Munich attack was carried out by an 18-year-old with German-Iranian. The country's authorities have been on high alert ever since another teenager armed with an axe and a knife wounded five people on a train in northern Bavaria, last Monday, an act that has been claimed by ISIS.

Government critics blame these violent attacks on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's liberal refugee policy. According to Reuters, a leader of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) posted on Twitter a message after the Munich shooting that said, "Merkel's unity party: Thank you for the terror in Germany and Europe!" The message was later deleted. Last year, Germany welcomed an estimated 1 million migrants.


See more from Blog here