In what could classify as a terror act, a car crashed into a crowd at a Christmas market in the eastern German town of Magdeburg on Friday, leaving many injured and at least five people killed—including a nine-year old boy. According to the local authority, at least 68 other individuals were hurt and 15 of them were critically injured. The incident is similar to an attack in Berlin in 2016 where 13 people were killed when a driver deliberately crashed a truck into the crowd.
Authorities declared that the driver had been arrested at the spot and characterised the occurrence as an intended attack. An investigation is underway. Eyewitnesses said that a black BMW drove directly into the crowd at the Christmas market, driving 400 meters at high speed towards the town hall. The attack was undertaken at around 7 pm when it was packed with crowds who were shopping for the holiday season.
The Suspect
The orchestrator of the attack, a 50 year old Saudi-born citizen, was immediately taken into custody. Taleb al-Abdulmohsen is a Zionist ex-Muslim and staunch disparager of Islam. He backs the far-right German party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which opposes immigration. Germany’s interior minister Nancy Faeser stated that it has been made clear that the suspect was an Islamophobe, according to Reuters.
Saudi Arabia had alerted German officials about the suspect after he shared his ‘extremist’ views that endangered peace and security on his X account, a Saudi source told the AFP. According to security sources cited by the Welt newspaper, German state and federal criminal investigators concluded in a risk assessment last year that the guy posed “no specific danger.”
Reaction to the Attack
The city’s cathedral hosted a memorial service that was primarily for the victims’ families, emergency personnel, and invited guests, including German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Additionally, hundreds of people congregated in the city’s main square, where some placed candles and laid flowers.
The crowds also included far-right protestors who engaged in demonstrations with anti-immigration slogans. After German authorities identified the assailant as a Saudi Arabian psychiatrist, police estimated that over 1,000 far-right demonstrators gathered in the city’s central square demanding strict immigration controls.
