German authorities believe Islamist extremism was the motive for the Mannheim knife attack

BERLIN – German authorities say they have found evidence of an Islamist extremist motive in last week’s knife attack in the southwestern city of Mannheim that fatally wounded a police officer.

Justice Minister Marco Buschmann wrote late Monday on the social media platform X that there were “now clear indications of an Islamist motive” for the attack and that the federal prosecutors responsible for terrorism and security crimes would take over the investigation.

The Federal Prosecutor’s Office confirmed on Tuesday that it had taken over the investigation and pointed out the importance of the case and the suspicion that there was a religious motivator.

According to investigators, the alleged attacker, a 25-year-old man from Afghanistan who has lived in Germany since 2014 and whose asylum application was allegedly rejected, stabbed several members of a group that describes itself as opponents of “political Islam.”

Five members of the Pax Europa group were injured, as was a police officer who tried to stop the attack. The 29-year-old police officer succumbed to his injuries on Sunday.

The police quickly ended the attack by shooting the attacker, who was injured.

The knife attack, which came about a week before the European Parliament elections in Germany, has prompted the opposition and some politicians from the ruling parties to demand that the authorities allow deportations to Afghanistan and Syria, which were effectively suspended when the Taliban took power there in 2021.