ATLAS Common Challenge 2018

SEK Baden-Württemberg practices dealing with terrorist situations together with European special units

“We can only fight terrorism in Europe together and well prepared successfully stand up to them. National borders are allowed in the fight of terrorism is not an obstacle - so practice Special police units cooperate. The interaction of the Special Forces was very good and I am very glad that ours Baden-Württemberg Special Operations Command nationwide - in addition to the GSG 9 of the federal government – plays a leading role,” said the deputy. Prime Minister and Interior Minister Thomas Strobl today, Wednesday, October 10, 2018, in Stuttgart after the conclusion of the ATLAS Common Challenge 2018.

“On October 9th and 10th, 2018, the ATLAS network simultaneously ran different scenarios in seven member states of the European Union, one of which was in Baden-Württemberg. The aim was to train the interaction of special units from France, Italy, Luxembourg and Switzerland. All exercise scenarios were coordinated via Europol in The Hague. The Baden-Württemberg Special Operations Command was in charge of the scenario that took place in Mosbach and parts of it in Heilbronn,” explained State Secretary Wilfried Klenk, who visited the exercise on October 9, 2018 in Mosbach.

Atlas Common Challenge 2018

The training situations focused on how to proceed in the event of simultaneous terrorist attacks and hostage-taking of large groups of people, which were realistically simulated based on past attack scenarios in Europe. The majority of the exercise took place in Mosbach on the grounds of the “Training Center Rescue and Help (TCRH)”. Some emergency services were dropped off with police helicopters on the Theresienwiese in Heilbronn on the night of October 9th to 10th, as part of the exercise took place in a cordoned off area near Heilbronn main train station. “The experiences from all scenarios will be evaluated and analyzed over the next few weeks. We can gain important insights from this for further cooperation in dealing with such complex operational situations,” said Interior Minister Strobl.

Further information:

ATLAS Common Challenge 2018