Islam critic among six injured in knife attack in Germany

Among the six people injured in a knife attack at a rally in Germany on Friday was a prominent critic of Islam, who 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 expressed the possibility that the attack could be Islamist-motivated.

A man with a knife attacked and injured several people at around 11:35 a.m. (09:35 GMT) on the market square in the city of Mannheim, about 90 kilometers south of Frankfurt in southwestern Germany, police said in a statement.

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.

The officers 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 determined.

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

– ‘Great danger’ –

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.

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 parliamentary elections on 9 June.

Matthias Ecke, a member of the European Parliament 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 Berlin library.

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

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