Grenzschutzgruppe 9

Grenzschutzgruppe 9 (GSG-9) is an elite German counterterrorist unit that was formed after the massacre at the 1972 Munich Olympics. All GSG-9 members undergo advanced counterterrorism training in areas such as building assault, hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship, and explosives. GSG-9's 1977 assault on a hijacked Lufthansa plane in Mogadishu, Somalia, brought the group to world attention.

After the defeat of the Nazi regime in World War II, the West German government was reorganized. West Germany had an army, but no national police force or intelligence agency. The national government had very little power to regulate the internal affairs of its states. In 1972, when the city of Munich hosted the Olympics, security for the games was the responsibility of the state of Bavaria (of which Munich was the capital). That security was deliberately relaxed, in an effort to prove to the world that Germany had ...