Munich, Germany:
Police arrested an Afghan asylum seeker at the scene of what German leaders labelled a car ramming “attack” Thursday that wounded 30 people, some seriously, in the southern city of Munich. The carnage came on the eve of an international security conference in the Bavarian city and amid a heated debate in Germany on immigration ahead of February 23 elections following similar attacks.
The Mini Cooper car barrelled into a trade union demonstration, leaving victims and their belongings scattered. Shoes, glasses and an infant stroller were left in the street.
Munich mayor Dieter Reiter said a number of people were being treated for severe injuries and were in a “life-threatening condition”.
Media reported that children were among the victims.
Police fired a shot at the battered car and detained the driver, a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker who was identified by German media as Farhad N.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned the “awful” attack and promised severe consequences. “From my point of view it is quite clear: this attacker cannot count on any mercy, he must be punished and he must leave the country,” Scholz told reporters.
The latest injuries followed a deadly car rampage at a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg in December.
‘Looked deliberate’
Alexa Graef, a witness, said she saw the car drive into the crowd, “which looked deliberate”.
“I hope it’s the last time I see anything like that,” said Graef, whose office overlooks the junction where the car struck.
Police inspected the cream-coloured car, leading sniffer dogs around the Mini and said the Afghan suspect, who lived in Munich, was arrested at the scene. The authorities have “indications of an extremist motive” and the investigation had been handed over to the regional prosecutor’s office, police added.
News outlet Der Spiegel, citing security sources, reported that the man was believed to have posted Islamist content online before the attack.
The suspect was said to have arrived in Germany in 2016 at the height of the mass migrant influx to Europe.
His asylum request was rejected by German authorities but he found work and was able to remain legally in the country, according to officials.
Bavaria state premier Markus Soeder told journalists that the incident was “just terrible”.
“This is not the first incident… we must show determination that something will change in Germany,” said Soeder, whose CSU party is allied with the conservative CDU at the national level.
Inflamed debate
The CDU/CSU alliance, which polls suggest is on track to win this month’s election, has called for tougher curbs on immigration after the recent attacks. Under pressure even before the election was called, Scholz’s government had moved to make asylum rules stricter and speed up deportations, including to Afghanistan.
Visiting Munich after the attack, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser vowed to do everything possible to ensure more deportations to Afghanistan while acknowledging it was a “very difficult country”.
In August the German government sent back the first Afghans to their home country since the Taliban government’s return to power in 2021. It had faced pressure then following a deadly knife attack allegedly committed by a Syrian man.
No other deportations have been carried out.
The latest attack comes amid an already heated debate on immigration and security after similar incidents, most recently in the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg last month.
Two people, including a two year-old boy, were killed in a knife attack on kindergarten toddlers. Police arrested a 28-year-old Afghan who authorities say had a history of mental illness.
In December, six people were killed after a car ploughed into a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg, wounding hundreds.
A Saudi man was arrested for that attack, with officials saying he also appeared to be mentally disturbed.
Thursday’s attack came as US Vice President JD Vance arrived for the annual Munich Security Conference, which starts Friday.
Also travelling to Munich is Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is to hold talks with US representatives over possible negotiations to end the war with Russia.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)