At least thirty people were injured when an Afghan asylum seeker drove his car into a crowd in Munich.
According to German police, the vehicle approached police cars before being stopped by a Verdi union demonstration, then accelerated and crashed into the crowd.
The suspected attack occurred on Thursday morning, before international officials such as US Vice-President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were scheduled to arrive in the city for the Munich Security Conference.
Officers were able to detain the driver of the car at the scene and a spokesperson later said he was a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker.
A spokesperson for the General Prosecutor’s office in Munich confirmed the suspect was named Farhad Noori.
Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said the suspect had been known to police for drug and shoplifting offences.
His asylum application had been rejected, said Mr Herrmann, but he had not been forced to leave due to security concerns in Afghanistan.
They said his motive was unclear.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the perpetrator of the “terrible attack” could not hope for leniency.
“He must be punished and he must leave the country,” he said, according to news outlet Focus Online.
“If it was an attack, we must take consistent action against possible perpetrators with all means of justice.”
