Christmas Marred by Terror after Berlin, Ankara Strikes

Less than a week before Christmas, and alarm is on red yet again across Europe after two terror strikes on Monday, in Ankara and Berlin left dozens injured or dead, including the Russian ambassador to Turkey.

In Berlin on Monday, a truck drove into a crowded Christmas market at 8pm local time killing at least 12 people and injuring 48 others who were gathered outside Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church in the heart of former West Berlin.

Germany security officials said they were not ready to call the incident an “attack” until further investigation.

On the same day in Turkey and a day after local protests over Russian support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a 22-year-old riot police officer shot dead Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, shouting “Don’t forget Aleppo” as he pulled the trigger.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who spoke to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, said they both agreed it was an act of “provocation” and warned that those wanting to harm relations between the two countries “would not achieve it”.

Cities across Europe, including London, have heightened security ahead of the Christmas holiday on Sunday for fear of “highly likely’’ terror strikes.