Germans told to stock up on supplies in case of attack

For the first time since the end of the Cold War, Germans are being told to stockpile food and water in case of an emergency.

The advice, part of a 69-page Concept for Civil Defence report from the German interior ministry, outlines what to do "in the event of major disasters or of armed attack", reports Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

People will be required to have "a sufficient supply of food, water, energy, money and medicine to wait out a period until the state would be able to initiate a response to a catastrophe or attack", Deutsche Welle says.

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The report itself, which is expected to be adopted by the German government tomorrow, says: "The population will be obliged to hold an individual supply of food for ten days."

According to Reuters, "the precautionary measures demand that people 'prepare appropriately for a development that could threaten our existence and cannot be categorically ruled out in the future'."

Die Linke party leader Dietmar Bartsch accused the government of fear-mongering, saying: "You can completely unsettle people with yet another round of proposals, such as hoarding supplies."

The Concept for Civil Defence adds that "an attack on German territory requiring conventional defence is unlikely", but the country remains on high alert following a string of terror attacks in Germany and other European nations.