Migrant crisis: Grenade thrown at asylum hostel in Germany

 

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Image caption The pin had been pulled out of the grenade but it failed to detonate

Migrant crisis

Unidentified attackers threw a live hand grenade at a migrant hostel in south-western Germany, officials say.

The grenade was found during the night near buildings housing 170 people in the town of Villingen-Schwenningen. Its pin had been pulled out but the explosives failed to detonate.
Justice Minister Heiko Maas said it was a new level of "hate and violence".
There were 1,005 attacks on refugee homes in Germany last year - five times more than in 2014.
Some of the migrants at the Villingen-Schwenningen hostel were evacuated while bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled explosion.

Police spokesman Thomas Kalmbach said it was "just luck" no-one was hurt.

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Image caption Germany's justice minister said the incident marked a "new level of hate and violence"

Officers said the grenade still contained its explosives but it was not clear whether it still had a detonator.
Mr Maas said he was summoning his regional state counterparts to crack down on hate crime.
"Grenades are already flying towards refugee homes. We can't wait until there is someone dead," he said.

Spike in attacks

News of the grenade incident came as new figures showed five times more attacks were carried out on migrant hostels in Germany last year than in 2014.
The total for 2015 was 1,005, compared with 199 in 2014, the police report said. Far-right activists are suspected in 90% of the cases.
Last year a record 1.1 million people sought asylum in Germany - many from war-torn Syria. Many local authorities have struggled to house them.
Germany is expanding its list of safe countries of return, hoping to curb the influx.
The governing coalition plans to declare Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia safe countries of origin, making it easier to send migrants back, said Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel.
credit bbc.co.uk