MUNICH: At least 28 people were hurt when a car driven by an Afghan asylum seeker ploughed into a crowd in Munich on Thursday in what the state premier said was probably an attack, putting security back in focus before next week’s federal election.
The suspected attack came hours before international leaders including U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were due to arrive in the southern German city for the Munich Security Conference.
“We currently believe that we have at least 28 people injured, some of them seriously,” said a police spokesperson.
Police said a white car had approached police vehicles that were accompanying a demonstration of striking workers, before speeding up and slamming into people.
One shot was fired at the suspect and it was unclear if he was wounded, police added. Officers detained the 24-year-old driver. They said his motive was unclear.
“It was probably an attack,” Bavaria state premier Markus Soeder told reporters.
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 Herrmann, but he had not been forced to leave due to security concerns in Afghanistan.
Immigration and security issues have dominated campaigning ahead of the February 23 election, especially after other violent incidents in recent weeks, with polls showing the centre-right conservatives leading followed by the far right.
In December, six people were killed in an attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg and last month a toddler and adult were killed in a knife attack in the Bavarian town of Aschaffenburg. Immigrants have been arrested over both attacks.
Conservative Friedrich Merz, frontrunner to be Germany’s next chancellor, said safety would be his top priority.
“We will enforce law and order. Everyone must feel safe in our country again. Something has to change in Germany,” Merz posted on X.
Merz has accused Social Democrat Chancellor Olaf Scholz of being soft on immigration and last month, he even broke a taboo by winning a parliamentary vote on asylum with the support of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
MIGRATION DOMINATES CAMPAIGN
The AfD, in second place in polls, also seized on the incident, with co-leader Alice Weidel focusing on the driver being an Afghan asylum seeker.
“Should this go on forever? Migration turnaround now!” she posted on social media platform X.
Scholz said the perpetrator could not hope for leniency. “He must be punished and he must leave the country,” said Scholz.
About four hours after the incident, the street where it took place was strewn with items of clothing and bags, a broken pram, a shoe and a pair of glasses.