Right-wing extremist AfD politicians attacked in two locations in Germany

Politicians from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party were attacked again on Saturday. Incidents were reported from Karlsruhe in the southwest and Dresden in the east of the country.

Two AfD city councilors were attacked by masked assailants in front of a café in downtown Karlsruhe.

Three people, including the two city councilors, were slightly injured, a spokesman for the Karlsruhe police told the dpa late on Saturday.

The attacks occurred a day before Germans go to the polls on Sunday for elections to the European Parliament and, in some areas, regional elections.

The three were treated on site. The police initially arrested five people and released them after taking their personal details. Other suspected perpetrators fled the scene.

The AfD said the city councilors were attacked with a baseball bat. The police said a stick was found at the crime scene.

Whether a baseball bat was used could neither be confirmed nor denied, said the police spokesman.

According to the AfD in the Karlsruhe city council, the attack came from the left-wing radical scene. Around ten people are said to have been involved in the attack.

The police were initially unable to provide further information.

“Only the courageous intervention of the security forces sitting at the next table prevented something worse from happening,” says a statement from the local AfD representative in the Karlsruhe city council.

The previous Saturday, 70-year-old AfD MP Hans-Jürgen Zickler was punched in the face by a man at an information stand in Dresden in the Saxon state parliament, the party said.

The Dresden police confirmed the incident. Criminal charges have been filed against the alleged perpetrator.

The suspect, a 47-year-old man, is being investigated on suspicion of assault after he beat a 70-year-old man in a voting booth, police said.

There is great outrage and dismay in Germany following a series of violent attacks on election campaign politicians from all parties across the political spectrum in recent months.

One of the worst incidents was the hospitalisation of Social Democratic campaigner Matthias Ecke after he was beaten in Dresden a month ago.