Australia's security forces on alert after Berlin truck attack

Australia's security forces and counter-terror organizations will "intensify" measures to keep Australians safe during the festive season, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Tuesday.

Following the "cowardly" attack in Berlin, in which at least nine people were killed and more than 50 injured when a truck crashed into a Christmas market in Berlin overnight, Turnbull said Australian authorities were working hard to ensure Australians and international visitors were kept safe during the busy Christmas and New Year period.

"We are very attentive to events internationally to ensure that we learn from them and make sure that we put measures in place to anticipate similar occurrences here," Turnbull told the press.

The prime minister said while the nation's security forces were already on high alert heading into Christmas, it was hard to "mitigate all risk," saying similar attacks such as the one in Nice, France occurred despite a heavy security presence.

"Everyone is well prepared to accept to anticipate attacks of this kind," Turnbull said.

"Whether they are at a market or a New Year's Eve celebration - nonetheless, we cannot mitigate all risk entirely.

"This was a truck attack, this appears to be a similar type of attack to that in Nice earlier in the year.

Meanwhile Justice Minister Michael Keenan echoed the prime minister's thoughts, telling Sky News that Australian authorities were always learning from attacks witnessed overseas.

"We have (learned from) significant terrorist attacks in Europe and we will be doing that in the significant terror attack in Berlin overnight as well," Keenan said.

source: Xinhua