Phones rang, notifications popped, media went into a frenzy. The start of this week saw two different acts of random (or maybe not) terror in different parts of the world, both triggering two questions, How safe are we? And did we bring this on ourselves? At a time when the festive season is upon us, and half the world is ironically clad in red in spirit of Christmas, the other half is fighting a war - one, waged against humanity.
The first reported incident saw 12 people die and 48 suffer injuries at the Berlin Christmas market as a truck crashed into people gathered around wooden huts serving mulled wine and sausages at the foot of the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church in the heart of what formerly was West Berlin. The attack brought back fresh memories of a similar incident in Nice, France when a Tunisian-born man drove a 19-tonne truck along the beach front, pinning down people who had gathered to watch the fireworks on Bastille Day, like dolls. While a media source first cited the suspect as a 23 year old Pakistani named Naved B, who arrived in Germany a year ago, the truck driver who was later captured and arrested, is yet to be confirmed.
The attack using a tractor-trailer to plow down a crowded Christmas market left Germany stunned and shocked. Authorities scrambled to determine who was behind the nation's bloodiest assault in decades. Angela Merkel, widely known for her stance in case of Syrian refugees, acknowledged what people across Europe were in fear with the approach of the holiday season. One of the consequences of the attack was such, police special forces stormed a hangar at Berlin's defunct Tempelhof airport housing a refugee accommodation centre, as the arrested man was found to be registered there.
If a migrant link is confirmed, it could further sour sentiment towards asylum seekers in Germany, where more than a million people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere have arrived this year and last.
The second terror-related event occurred at an art exhibit in Ankara, where the Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov was assassinated reportedly by off-duty police officer Mevlut Mert Altinas. Witnesses said the gunman shouted "We'll make you pay for Aleppo" before firing at the diplomat, most likely referring to Russia's backing of the Syrian government in its brutal siege of Aleppo. While it remains unclear on how Russia would respond, given the already tense relations between Ankara and Moscow over the past year, centuries of historical rivalry and residual animosity, colliding foreign policies in the mess that is the Syrian civil war, there are several not so pretty escalatory scenarios that come to mind.
Meanwhile, the crucial battle of Aleppo has "finally" entered its last phase, as Syrian rebels retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances. President Bashar al-Assad's forces counted over 90 per cent of the one-time opposition stronghold of east Aleppo and appeared on the verge of retaking the entire city. A Syrian military official said the "operation in eastern neighbourhoods is entering its final phase." Social media has been rife the past week with "good bye" tweets from Syrians trapped in Aleppo. #mylastwords was trending on the World Wide Web where civilians gave us a glimpse into the horrifying state of life.
After four years of ceaseless violence and numerous deaths, the battle of Aleppo is coming to a close. In the fight over control, several innocent were displaced worldwide, several died in a bid to survive and those who stayed back, clinged on the faint hope of arriving relief as the rest of the world looked the other way.
While the Christmas is a season for compassion and love, Western powers along with allies revolted against Assad, that led to unbelievable bloodshed. One must learn that Genocide of the Jews, or that of the Hindus in Multan by Afghans or during partition of India hasn't earned anyone anything, other than pain and a lost generation
