image source, EPA
The death toll from the attack that targeted a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg, Germany, rose on Friday to 5, in addition to 200 injuries, according to a statement by the Prime Minister of the state of Saxony, Rainer Haseloff.
For his part, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who visited the site of the attack, described it as a “terrible disaster,” expressing his concern about the serious injury of about 40 people as a result of the ramming operation.
“We will not surrender to those who want to spread hatred,” he added, pledging that Germany would respond “with the full force of the law” to the “terrible attack that injured and killed many people” near the anniversary of a deadly extremist attack in 2016 on a Christmas market in Berlin.
Schulz called for “national unity” at a time when Germany is shaken by a broad debate on immigration and security as it heads towards elections next February.
“It is important that we stay united as a country, that we stick together, that we link our arms together, and that it is not hatred that defines our coexistence, but the fact that we are a community seeking a common future,” Schulz said.
German Interior Minister Nancy Weiser announced that the perpetrator of the attack who drove the car that ran into the crowd was an “anti-Islam” Saudi doctor. In response to journalists’ question about the attacker’s motives, the minister said during her inspection of the attack site that “the only thing” she can currently confirm “is that he is anti-Islam” based on the positions he expressed.
Prosecutor Horst-Walter Noppens also said that the investigation is still ongoing, but “it seems that in the background of the crime… there may be resentment towards the way Saudi refugees are treated in Germany.”
Berlin police reinforced their presence in the city’s Christmas markets after the attack in Magdeburg.
For his part, Magdeburg City Councilor for Public Order Affairs, Ronnie Krug, announced that the city’s Christmas market will remain closed, stressing that “Christmas in Magdeburg is over,” according to Central German Radio (MDR).
The Ministry of the Interior also reported this morning that it had decided to raise flags to mid-staff in official buildings in the state of Saxony, of which Magdeburg is the capital, in honor of the people who died in the attack.
It is noteworthy that in 2016, the Christmas market in Berlin witnessed a truck attack, which killed 12 people and injured many.
What do we know about the attacker?
image source, Reuters
Saxony state governor Rainer Haselof said: “German police arrested a Saudi doctor who is believed to have driven his car into a Christmas market in Magdeburg, killing several people and wounding others.”
According to the French news agency, the suspect in carrying out the attack is a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006 and obtained refugee status. He also worked in the Saxony-Anhalt region, whose capital, Magdeburg, is located 160 kilometers from Berlin.
The man, who was identified by local media as “Talib,” “acted alone,” according to Haselov.
Haselov said that the perpetrator’s motives are still unclear, “as he was not known to the police as an Islamic extremist,” and he even posted opinions on social media denouncing the dangers of “Islamization,” according to German media.
The media reported that “the suspect has links with the extreme right in Germany, and was known among Saudi immigrants, and was also helping asylum seekers, especially women.”
The German Interior Ministry also stated that the perpetrator of the attack on the Milady Market in Germany was “hostile to Islam.”
Saudi Arabia is the first to comment on the attack
image source, EPA
In its first comment on the incident, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its condemnation of the hit-and-run incident that occurred in a market in the city of Magdeburg in Germany.
The Ministry also expressed, via the X platform, “Saudi Arabia’s solidarity with the German people and the families of the victims,” stressing “the Kingdom’s position in rejecting violence.”
Saudi Arabia did not reveal any information regarding the suspect.
International condemnations continued, as the United Nations expressed its shock over the attack that took place in the German city of Magdeburg, which resulted in the death and injury of dozens of people.
The spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Stephane Dujarric, expressed the United Nations’ condolences to the families of the victims and the government and people of Germany, wishing a speedy recovery to the injured.
For her part, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, condemned the attack that occurred at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, describing it as a “brutal and cowardly act.”
Von der Leyen offered her condolences to the families of the victims, thanked the police and rescue workers for their efforts, and stressed the need to investigate this attack and punish those responsible.
US President Joe Biden also condemned the attack, describing it as “despicable.” Polish President Andrzej Duda also expressed his shock at the attack, offering his condolences to the families of the victims and wishing a speedy recovery to the injured. In a statement, the Polish Foreign Ministry described the attack as turning the holiday season from a time of joy into a tragedy.
As for Türkiye, it demanded, through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that the perpetrators be held accountable “to justice.”
Jordan condemned the “run-over incident,” and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed via the X platform “absolute denunciation of all forms of violence and terrorism, which aim to destabilize security and stability, and terrorize civilians.”
Egypt also condemned the “run-over accident” and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed in a statement its denunciation of what it described as all forms of violence and terrorism. Al-Azhar condemned the incident, stressing that “assaulting” and terrorizing people, regardless of their religion or belief, is a “heinous crime” and a departure from all religious teachings and human and moral values.