MUNICH, Germany: Police have arrested an Afghan asylum seeker at the scene of what German leaders labelled a car ramming “attack” that injured 28 people, some seriously, in the southern city of Munich on Thursday. The incident put security back in focus before next week’s federal election.
The suspected attack also came hours before a high-profile security conference in the Bavarian city and amid a heated immigration debate ahead of the February 23 elections following a spate of similar attacks.
Police said a white car had approached police vehicles that were accompanying a demonstration of striking workers, before speeding up and hitting people, leaving a trail of victims and scattering their belongings on the street.
Police at the scene 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.
“It was probably an attack,” Bavaria state premier Markus Söder told reporters. Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann said the suspect had been known to police for drug and shoplifting offences.
The suspected attack follows a deadly car rampage at a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg in December.
Police inspected the cream-coloured car used in the attack, leading sniffer dogs around the Mini.
The 24-year-old Afghan, who lived in Munich, was arrested at the scene, police said.
The authorities have “indications of an extremist motive” and the investigation had been handed over to the regional prosecutor’s office, police added.
Immigration and security issues have dominated campaigning ahead of the 23 February election, especially after other violent incidents in recent weeks, with polls showing the centre-right conservatives leading followed by the far-right.
In December, six people were killed in an attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg. Immigrants have been arrested over both attacks.
Conservative Friedrich Merz, the frontrunner to be Germany’s next chancellor, said safety would be his top priority. – Agencies
