At Least 28 Injured After Driver Plows Into Demonstration In Germany | rssama.com

BERLIN (AP) — A driver drove a car into a labour national objection successful cardinal Munich connected Thursday, injuring astatine slightest 28 group including children, authorities said. Officials said it was believed to beryllium an attack.

The suspect, an Afghan asylum-seeker, was arrested. The incident follows a bid of attacks involving immigrants successful caller months that have pushed migration to nan forefront of nan run for Germany’s Feb. 23 election.

Participants successful a objection by nan work workers’ national ver.di were stepping on a thoroughfare astatine astir 10:30 a.m. erstwhile nan car overtook a constabulary conveyance pursuing nan gathering, accelerated and plowed into nan backmost of nan group, constabulary said.

Officers arrested nan fishy aft firing a changeable astatine nan car, lawman constabulary main Christian Huber said. He added that astatine slightest 28 group were believed to beryllium injured, immoderate of them seriously. A damaged Mini was seen astatine nan scene, on pinch debris including shoes.

The fishy was a 24-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker, Huber said. Bavaria’s authorities interior minister, Joachim Herrmann, said nan man was known to authorities successful relationship pinch theft and supplier offenses, but didn’t springiness further details. He said officials judge nan protestation was apt targeted astatine random.

The state’s justness minister, Georg Eisenreich, said a prosecutors’ section that investigates extremism and panic was looking into nan case.

“We consciousness pinch nan victims, we are praying for nan victims — we dream very overmuch that they each make it,” Bavarian politician Markus Söder told reporters astatine nan scene.

“It is suspected to beryllium an onslaught — a batch points to that,” Söder added.

Mayor Dieter Reiter said that children were among those injured.

Police and emergency services guidelines adjacent a damaged car that apparently drove into demonstrators marching successful nan metropolis halfway connected February 13, 2025 successful Munich, Germany. (Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images)

Johannes Simon via Getty Images

A drawstring of caller attacks

The Munich incident comes 3 weeks aft a 2-year-old boy and a man were killed successful a knife attack successful Aschaffenburg, besides successful Bavaria. An Afghan whose asylum exertion was rejected was nan fishy successful that attack, which propelled migration to nan halfway of nan German predetermination campaign.

The Aschaffenburg onslaught followed weapon attacks in Mannheim and Solingen past year successful which nan suspects were immigrants from Afghanistan and Syria, respectively — successful nan second case, besides a rejected asylum-seeker who was expected to person near nan country.

In nan December Christmas marketplace car ramming successful Magdeburg, the fishy was a Saudi doctor who antecedently had travel to various location authorities’ attention.

Demands for governmental consequences

Germany’s main guidance blimpish bloc, successful which Söder is simply a salient figure, has demanded a tougher approach to irregular migration, calling for galore much group to beryllium turned backmost astatine nan separator and for an summation successful deportations. Curbing migration is besides a halfway rumor for nan far-right Alternative for Germany, which polls put successful 2nd spot down nan conservatives.

“This is much grounds that we can’t spell from onslaught to onslaught and show dismay, convey constabulary for their deployment,” Söder said. “This is not nan first specified enactment ... We are wished that thing must alteration successful Germany, and quickly.”

Alternative for Germany’s co-leader, Alice Weidel, posted connected societal web X: “Is this expected to transportation connected forever? Migration turnaround now!”

Center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s authorities said it already has done a batch to reduce irregular migration, and that nan opposition’s plans are incompatible pinch German and European Union law.

Scholz described nan latest incident arsenic “a unspeakable attack.”

“Anyone who commits crimes successful Germany will not conscionable beryllium punished severely and person to spell to prison, but must expect that he cannot proceed his enactment successful Germany — and that besides goes for countries that it is very difficult to nonstop group backmost to,” he said.

The chancellor noted that his authorities deported convicted criminals to Afghanistan connected a formation successful August and is moving to do truthful again — “and not conscionable once, but continually.”

Herrmann said nan Munich suspect’s asylum exertion apparently had been rejected but it hadn’t been imaginable to deport him.

The Bavarian superior will spot dense information successful nan coming days because nan three-day Munich Security Conference, an yearly gathering of world overseas and information argumentation officials, opens connected Friday.

Herrmann said authorities do not judge nan car ramming was connected to nan conference, but they still request to find nan motive.

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Stefanie Dazio successful Berlin contributed to this report.

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