Germany admits failings in wake of market attack

The German government has admitted that it “made mistakes” in the aftermath of the Berlin Christmas market terror attack, which claimed 12 lives in 2016.

Speaking on the first anniversary of the attack, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany should learn from security shortcomings that were highlighted by the attack, and that more should be done to increase support for victims and their families.

Among the criticisms Merkel’s government faced was the accusation that families “were not given timely information” and were “sent bills for the costs of autopsies”, according to the BBC.

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Merkel herself had been criticised in an open letter for not personally contacting the families of victims.

The Chancellor met victims and relatives of those killed in the attack earlier this week, and vowed to meet the group again in a few months to “provide updates on lessons learned from Germany's worst Islamist militant attack”, the ABC says.

“The talks were very open and, from the part of those affected, no holds barred, and pointed to the weakness of our country in this situation,” Merkel said.

Justice minister, Heiko Maas, has also apologised, saying: “We were not sufficiently prepared to deal with the consequences of such a terror attack. For that, we can only apologise to the victims and their surviving relatives.”