Munich assault newest: At least 30 injured as ‘extremist’ drives automobile into crowd
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A failed asylum-seeker in Germany has driven at crowds at a trade union demonstration, injuring at least 30 people, including children. At least two of the wounded in Munich were fighting for their lives.
Anti-terror police are investigating what authorities believe was a deliberate attack and a 24-year-old Afghan was arrested after officers shot at the car, police say.
Prosecutors say the suspect has at least “indications of an extremist background”, German news site Zeit Online reports, and Der Spiegel says he is believed to have put Islamist posts on social media before the attack.
The general prosecutor’s office identified him as Farhad Noori, according to Reuters.
His asylum application had been rejected but it had been impossible to deport him, according to Bavaria’s interior minister, Joachim Herrmann.
The suspect was known to authorities for shoplifting and drug offences, he said.
Witnesses told how the attacker’s car overtook a police vehicle following the rally, then accelerated and ploughed into the back of the group.
The Bavarian Central Office for Combating Extremism and Terrorism is leading the investigation.
The Munich Security Conference is set to open on Friday, with US vice-president JD Vance and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky due to arrive within hours.
Attacks raise pre-election calls for migration crackdown
Three weeks ago, a two-year-old boy and a man were killed in a knife attack in Aschaffenburg, also in Bavaria.
An Afghan whose asylum application was rejected was the suspect in that attack, which propelled migration to the centre of the German election campaign.
The Aschaffenburg attack followed knife attacks in Mannheim and in Solingen last year in which the suspects were immigrants from Afghanistan and Syria, respectively – in the latter case, also a rejected asylum-seeker who was supposed to have left the country.
In December a Saudi doctor who previously had come to various regional authorities’ attention was suspected of being the driver when a car rammed a Christmas market in Magdeburg.
Germany’s main opposition conservative bloc has demanded a tougher approach to irregular migration, calling for many more people to be turned back at the country’s borders and for an increase in deportations.
Curbing migration is also a core issue for the far-right Alternative for Germany.
‘Thoughts with innocent victims’ – union chairman
Frank Werneke, chairman of trade union Ver.di, which organised the rally where people were injured said: “We are deeply dismayed and shocked by the serious incident during a peaceful demonstration by ver.di colleagues.
“Our thoughts are with the innocent victims and injured as well as their families. It is not yet clear whether there are any fatalities. We would like to thank all of the helpers for their commitment.
“This is a difficult moment for all colleagues. We unions stand for solidarity, especially in such a dark hour.”
Watch: There must be consequences says chancellor Scholz
Suspect had ‘extremist background’ and ‘put up Islamic posts’
Prosecutors said the suspect had at least “indications of an extremist background”, German news site Zeit Online reported.
Der Spiegel said he was believed to have put Islamist posts on social media before the attack.
Aa spokesperson for the General prosecutor’s office in Munich confirmed to Reuters the suspect was named Farhad Noori.
He was arrested and being questioned, and his apartment was searched.
Security conference chiefs ‘deeply saddened’
Organisers of the Munich security conference said they were deeply saddened by what happened, asking people to “remain calm and follow the instructions of the authorities”.
Watch: German chancellor says suspect must leave country
German chancellor says Munich car attack suspect ‘must leave country’
German chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned the Munich car attack and warned that the perpetrator “cannot assume that he will be able to remain here.” A vehicle was driven at a trade union demonstration, injuring at least 28 people, in what authorities believe was an attack on Thursday, 13 February. The suspect, a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker, was arrested after officers fired a shot at the car, deputy police chief Christian Huber said. According to a translation read out by Sky News, Mr Scholz said: “The government will be starting flights back to Afghanistan despite the lack of diplomatic ties. “He must be punished and he must leave the country.”
Four victims needed emergency surgery
Four people had to be operated on immediately on arriving at hospital, it’s been reported.
News site BR24 said the injured were being cared for in several hospitals in the city, including the LMU’s Hauner Children’s Hospital.
Some of the injured are also being cared for at the Munich Red Cross Clinic, as well as in the Munich Clinic’s emergency centres, it said.
Many low-paid city workers among injured
Among the injured are many employees of the Munich city administration, Munich’s deputy mayor Dominik Krause announced.
They are “people who make sure our city functions every day – whether in the daycare centres or rubbish collection”, he said.
Several had their children with them, “which makes the act all the more heinous”, he said.
Source: independent.co.uk
