Saturday 21 December 2024
Islamabad (News International/ Pakistan New - DW News - 21st December 2024) Germany began the weekend of December 21 with a very sad atmosphere. On Friday, a Saudi doctor allegedly drove a black BMW into a crowd at a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg in the central German province of Saxony-Anhalt. The incident on December 20th occurred at a time when Christmas markets across Germany were filled with a large number of fans and Germans were preparing to celebrate the Christmas festival.
What is known about the attacker?
Authorities have identified the suspect as 50-year-old Saudi student Talib A. The suspect has lived in Germany for almost two decades and works as a doctor.
He was arrested at the scene of the Magdeburg Christmas market on Friday evening. The Saudi attacker is being questioned, but the motives for the act were not yet known on Saturday.
The violent attack has shaken the country and the city of Magdeburg.
According to several reports, the suspect in the Magdeburg Christmas market attack is a critic of Islam and a supporter of the AfD. German media reported, citing social media posts, that the alleged attacker is an activist who holds critical views on Islam and supports the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
The 50-year-old Saudi doctor, who has a permanent German residence permit, described himself as a former Muslim, the DPA news agency said.
‘The terrorist attack on the Berlin Christmas market was the result of mistakes by several institutions’
The news agency said that the alleged perpetrator had written negative posts about German authorities on social media.
It also accused the Berlin government of not doing enough to combat Islamism.
The suspected Saudi doctor reportedly supported Saudi women fleeing persecution in their homeland, but he always advised his fellow countrymen not to seek political asylum in Germany.
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German news magazine Der Spiegel also reported that the suspect’s social media posts indicated his sympathy for Germany’s AfD party.
Police said hours after Friday’s attack on the Magdeburg Christmas market that the alleged perpetrator had lived in Germany since 2006.
Mourning across Germany, several Christmas markets cancelled
Friday’s violent incident has deeply shocked the entire nation and the authorities.
Magdeburg Mayor Simone Bors, a mother of two, is deeply saddened by the death of four people, including a child, in the Magdeburg Christmas market attack, and could not hold back her tears as she expressed her emotions.
Strasbourg attacker was a violent criminal, police say
The incident at the Magdeburg Christmas market has dealt a severe blow to this centuries-old German tradition.
Several German cities have canceled weekend Christmas markets as a show of solidarity with the people of Magdeburg and as a precautionary measure. A memorial service will be held in the city's cathedral on Saturday evening. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Interior Minister Nancy Pfizer will arrive in Magdeburg on Saturday and join the ceremony.
"My thoughts are with the victims and their families.
We stand with them and the people of Magdeburg," the German chancellor wrote in a message on X.
Magdeburg has a population of around 240,000. The city is located west of the federal capital Berlin and is the capital of the state of Saxony-Anhalt. The Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg is one of the most beautiful Christmas markets in Germany, with colorful stalls and a variety of food, Christmas drinks and decorations in a traditional style.
Efforts are being made to find out the reasons for the Saudi doctor who drove a BMW into a bustling crowd, killing at least two people and injuring more than 60.
Anis Amri had deep connections with extremists
The attack on the Christmas market in Germany eight years ago
It should be remembered that eight years before the terrorist incident in Magdeburg on Friday, December 20, 2024, a similar terrorist attack had shocked the whole world, including Germany.
On December 19, 2016, a Muslim extremist drove a truck into a Christmas market on Bridegroomplatz in the heart of Berlin, killing at least 13 people and injuring 67. The attacker was killed in a shootout in Italy a few days later.
An adult and a small child were among the four people killed when a car ploughed into a crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, but authorities said more deaths could not be ruled out as 15 people at the Christmas market were seriously injured.
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