Five days before Christmas, Germany has again been plunged into grief. Just after 7 p.m. local time yesterday in the city of Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt, a black BMW ploughed through a Christmas market, killing at least five and injuring more than 200. Hundreds of locals were enjoying the festive market at the time, buying gifts and enjoying the festivities with friends and family. A man has been arrested in connection with the attack.
For many Germans, yesterday’s attack will bring back painful memories
The alleged perpetrator is a 50-year-old psychotherapist originally from Saudi Arabia who had been legally living in Germany since 2006. As of this morning, his motive remained unclear, although the authorities are investigating all possibilities.
Preliminary investigations into the suspect’s social media by the German press have begun to reveal a strange fascination with the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party. Writing on Twitter eight years ago, the suspect reportedly declared his desire to start an ‘academy for former Muslims’ with the party; he also appears to have endorsed AfD party leader Alice Weidel as recently as this summer. According to Reuters, Saudi Arabia warned the German authorities about the alleged perpetrator’s ‘extremist views’ following posts on his social media that threatened ‘peace and security’.
For many Germans, yesterday’s attack will bring back memories of an eerily similar incident which took place at a Berlin Christmas market almost eight years ago to the day. On 19 December 2016, a hijacked trailer truck was driven into a market in the centre of the city, leaving 12 people dead and 56 injured. The terror group Isis claimed responsibility for the attack. Ever since, Christmas markets across the country have as a rule been under closer police surveillance. Magdeburg was no exception, but even though police were guarding the market, they couldn’t prevent last night’s attack.
The state president of Brandenburg, on Berlin’s outskirts, Dietmar Woidke said, ‘Today’s news is reopening old wounds. It leaves me speechless and infinitely sad.’
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in Magdeburg just after noon local time. Speaking from the scene of the attack, Scholz condemned it as a ‘terrible, insane act’.
‘There is no place more peaceful and cheerful than a Christmas market,’ he said.
Scholz also provided an update on the injured: ‘Almost 40 are so badly injured that we have to be very concerned about them.’ He called for Germans to come together and support the victims of the attack.
This incident will cast a pall of grief over Germany’s festive period, not least because this is the third mass attack in the country this year – following terror attacks in the cities of Mannheim and Solingen over the summer. As further details around this terrible incident begin to emerge, and with the federal election just over two months away, the country’s various political parties will no doubt use it to fuel the ongoing debate about security and immigration into Germany. Scholz was right: the worst fallout of this attack is not yet over.
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