Two right-wing extremist AfD city councillors attacked in Karlsruhe

Two city councilors from the right-wing extremist Alternative for Germany (AfD) were attacked by masked assailants in front of a café in downtown Karlsruhe in the southwest of the country on Saturday.

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

The three were treated on site. The police initially arrested five people and released them after establishing their identities. 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.