Six injured in knife attack at German anti-Islam rally

Six people, including a prominent critic of Islam, were injured in a knife attack at an extreme right-wing rally in Germany on Friday (May 31). The attack was immediately condemned by the German leadership.

The attack, which took place a few days before the EU elections, came amid an increase in politically motivated violence in Germany.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser considered the possibility that the attack could have been Islamist-motivated.

A man with a knife attacked and injured several people on the market square in the southwestern German city of Mannheim at around 11:35 a.m. (09:35 GMT), police said.

Police said five of the injured had taken part in a rally organized by Pax Europa, a campaign group against radical Islam.

It was reported that a police officer who intervened was also stabbed several times in the back of the head.

Another officer shot the attacker and injured him.

“The extent and severity of the injuries are not yet known,” police said. The identity of the attacker has not yet been established.

‘Terrible’

The magazine “Der Spiegel” reported that a suspect had been identified. His name is Sulaiman A., a 25-year-old who was born in Herat, Afghanistan, and lives in the state of Hesse.

The suspect had not previously come to the attention of the authorities as an extremist, but investigators believe he probably acted out of an Islamist motive, the magazine said.

“The images from Mannheim are terrible,” wrote Chancellor Olaf Scholz on X, adding: “Violence is absolutely unacceptable in our democracy. The perpetrator must be severely punished.”

The Pax Europa website said one of the victims was Michael Stürzenberger, a German far-right activist and blogger who was scheduled to attend the rally.

Stürzenberger suffered severe stab wounds to his face and leg, the group said.

Stürzenberger has been a prominent anti-Islam activist in Germany for several years.

The Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution accuses him of “anti-Islamic statements” and classifies Pax Europa as anti-Islam.

‘Great danger’

Faeser called for a thorough investigation into the attacker’s motive.

“If the investigation reveals an Islamist motive, this would be further confirmation of the great danger posed by Islamist acts of violence,” it said in a statement.

Since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, Germany has been on high alert for possible Islamist attacks. The head of the German domestic intelligence service warned that the risk of such attacks was “real and higher than it has been for a long time.”

In addition, the country has seen a spate of attacks on politicians at work or during the election campaign ahead of the EU elections on 9 June.

Matthias Ecke, a European parliamentarian for Scholz’s SPD party, was attacked by a group of youths this month while putting up election posters in Dresden.

Days later, former Berlin mayor Franziska Giffey was hit on the head and neck with a bag while visiting a library in the capital.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed concern last week about this growing trend, saying that Germans should “never get used to violence in the battle of political opinions.”