Germany steps up security after terror warnings
Germany has beefed up security for the Christmas markets getting underway, fearing that Pakistan-trained Al-Qaeda terrorists may carry out an attack similar to the one in Pune earlyin 2010.
Hundreds of extra police force have been deployed to protect the markets, especially in major cities, in an unprecedented security operation for some of the largest public gatherings during the advent season.
Police have issued instructions to market vendors and visitors to be vigilant and report to the authorities if they come across unattended bags or anything suspicious.
It was an unattended bag left in the German Bakery in Pune that exploded when a waiter tried to open it, killing 17 people and injuring over 65 others, including a German, in Februaryin 2010.
Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba's Indian operative Himayat Mirza Baig is charged with planting the bag containing a powerful bomb in the bakery, frequented by both Indians and foreigners.
Some experts say the attack on the German Bakery may have been a "test" for a bigger Al-Qaeda operation in Germany.
Security authorities are concerned that mastermind of the Pune blast LeT militant Ilyas Kashmiri may be planning a similar strike in Germany together with the underworld king-pin Dawood Ibrahim, who is among India's most wanted.
Germany has been in a state of heightened security alert since interior minister Thomas de Maiziere last week warned about "concrete evidence" for an attack by terrorists by the end of this month.
He also spoke of a Mumbai-style attack as the most likely scenario the authorities are preparing for.
Policemen carrying machine guns and automatic weapons have been patrolling the airports, railway stations and other possible targets across the country after Maiziere ordered a stepping up of the security alert.
Federal and state security officials say that warnings about possible terrorist attacks have never been so specific.
The US domestic intelligence agency FBI, which gave the tip-off to the German intelligence service about a possible attack in Germany by Al-Qaeda terrorists trained in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region, had identified Kashmiri as the mastermind behind the planned attacks.
Kashmiri has recruited two to four persons in the border areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan for the planned attack in Germany, the media reports said.
German news magazine Der Spiegel reported a few days ago that the FBI identified the mastermind of the plot as Mustaq Altaf Bin-Khadri and he is assisted by Dawood Ibrahim to smuggle the terrorists to Germany.
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