Car ramming attack in Germany leaves dozens injured.

 

The aftermath of the attack in Magdeburg Germany. AP. 

A car ramming attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg Germany has left at least one person dead and dozens wounded. AP. The driver was arrested by police and the police have confirmed that it was a deliberate act. Video was taken of the attack and showed the vehicle ramming into dozens of people before driving off. Christmas markets are a strong tradition in Germany, but this is not the first attack of its kind on one. In 2016 an Islamic State supporter killed 13 people in Berlin in a similar attack, and was later killed by police in a shootout in Italy. No motive for this attack has been released at this time. 

My Comment:

This is a breaking news story and, as always, the casualty figures could change. Other sources are saying 11 dead and 60 wounded but those are not universal and many bigger outlets are going with the 1 dead 50 wounded numbers. It's very possible that both numbers could be wrong, so keep that in mind. 

As for the attack itself, it really isn't surprising. Christmas markets are key targets for vehicle ramming attacks as they usually have little in the way of defenses and are target rich environment. You have a huge number of people all crowded together and they may not have the ability to escape. That's exactly what happened here, I saw the video that was posted on social media and those folks had little chance. 

It hasn't been confirmed that this was Islamic terrorism, but that would be my bet. ISIS has a long history of vehicle ramming attacks so it would be somewhat surprising if it wasn't them. It wouldn't be unprecedented of course, a similar attack on a Christmas parade here in Wisconsin, the Waukesha ramming attack was committed by a black nationalist racist. But for what it is worth, there are photos of the arrest on social media and it looks like it was a vaguely Arabic looking man, though who knows if that is accurate. 

If it is ISIS or other Islamic terrorism I would not be surprised. ISIS has made a bit of a comeback recently and controls territory in both Syria and Afghanistan. It would no be surprising if they funded or at least inspired this attack. And there is always the threat of the attacker being a lone wolf, the low complexity of the attack certainly suggests that. 

There should be questions asked of the local German officials as to why there didn't appear to be any defenses at this market. All it takes is a moveable concrete barrier to block of car lanes to prevent most of these attacks. I couldn't see any on the video of the attack or in the aftermath, but either they weren't present or they were placed in such a way that the attacker was able to evade them. Either way, this was mostly likely a preventable attack.