Major exercise on terrorist attack with bio-weapons in Berlin

Task forces of the Special Operations Command (SEK), the defusing unit and the analytical task force stand in a courtyard of the Berlin police headquarters during a press event.

On Wednesday, several police and public health agencies continued their three-day large-scale exercise on the emergency of a terrorist attack with a biological warfare agent.

The Berlin police warned the population via Twitter: "You may notice task forces from the police, fire department, and co-exercising institutions. Do not be alarmed. This is the Apollon exercise." An explosive attack, in which biological agents would be used among other weapons, is being simulated in order is to test and adapt operational concepts to protect the population and prosecute the perpetrators. "We need to be prepared. We want to be trained," the police wrote.

Exercise lasts until Thursday

The exercise began at the large police compound in Spandau. The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the federal police, the fire department, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the Charité University Hospital, the Senate and the public health service are also involved. The RKI tweeted that it was participating with a crisis management unit from the Center for Biological Hazards and Special Pathogens. The exercise will last until Thursday and includes a rehearsal of the entire procedure, from the first alarm, the work at the scene and the care of the injured to decontamination, evaluation of the substances in the laboratory and the pursuit of perpetrators.