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Berlin Warns from Terrorist Chemical Attacks | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Terror attack on a Christmas market in Berlin. Getty Images


Cologne – The Federal Criminal Police Office in Germany (Bundeskriminalamt, BKA) announced that terrorists are planning to use chemical weapons to poison drinking water supply systems.

The BKA issued its official warning on Tuesday, saying that perpetrators are “able to procure larger quantities of chemicals and to use them,” in its latest report, “Risk analysis for the Protection of the Population,” which is issued annually.

It is, the BKA said, a highly “realistic scenario” that there will be a chemical attack on the drinking water supply, on multi-family houses or food supplies, and there is also a “high risk potential” for attacks on transport facilities catering to the chemical industry.

The report said that a “determined and well-founded terrorist group” could be in a position to “utilize the potential for chemical hazards present in Germany within the framework of an attack on its targets.”

According to reports in the German media, the BKA report contained a detailed description of the dangers of the threatened chemical attacks faced by Germany, and mapped out how security agencies, hospitals, and rescue services should be prepared to deal with a chemical attack.

The report also stated that it will be necessary to deploy the army in greater numbers than ever before, and that the government is prioritizing the building of additional “detoxification facilities.”