(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The fear that Europe would become the playground of Islamist extremists has largely come true. First it was France that was shaken by attacks. Now it";s Germany. Not that the continent";s name grabbed international headlines suddenly.
The tension had started building earlier — when masses of refugees and asylum seekers in 2015 headed for the industrial powerhouse in the hope of a better life, away from the shelling and bombardment in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Many Europeans, mostly those in Germany, had been worrying about the uncontrolled flow of migrants from the Middle East, but would not voice their concerns for the fear of sounding politically incorrect. Then came the 2016 New Year";s Eve attacks. A number of German women revelers were groped and assaulted by ‘Middle Eastern looking"; men. This created a media storm across the continent.
Since the assaults didn";t have anything to do with terror, concern was mostly confined to fear of weakening law and order. Before that, France had already passed through the shock of Bataclan massacre. Three extremists shot dead close to 90 people in the Bataclan concert hall in Paris on November 13, 2015. The attack shocked the nation and revived fears of terrorism in a nation still coming to terms with the Charlie Hebdo attack.
Earlier this month, a carnage in Nice jolted the nation yet again. A Tunisian truck driver ploughed his refrigerator truck into crowds celebrating the Bastille Day on the French Rivera in the southern town. Horrific scenes of people being run over by the giant vehicle greeted the world on a day the French feted Liberty, equality and fraternity.
Terror had swaddled Europe, and France was at the receiving end. A spate of attacks in Germany has renewed fears of terrorism crossing the borders from France. A gruesome axe attack on a Bavaria subway train by an Afghan lad made it hard for Germans to look at the future without fear. Then, a gun assault on shoppers in Munich that claimed nine lives was thought to be another Islamist gun assault. It was, however, found that it was the handiwork of a deranged man and had no Islamist connection. But when a Syrian man blew himself up in Germany and IS-inspired terrorists slaughtered a priest in a church in France, it was clear Europe had come to deal with militancy on a sustained basis.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has admitted Germany is in the throes of Islamist militancy, but she doesn";t want to change her refugee policy. European leaders will have to close ranks and crack down hard on such terror.