Germany to increase elite unit by third ‘due to terrorist threats’

Germany’s elite paramilitary unit will be increased by a third, and a second base will be opened due to increased terrorism threats, AP reported. In addition to the GSG-9’s base near Bonn in western Germany, another base, likely in Berlin, will be added, according to the unit’s head, Jerome Fuchs. The GSG-9 unit was created in response to German security services’ failure to prevent the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The actual number of the unit’s members is not public, but is estimated currently at 400.