The Christmas market in Magdeburg, where a car drove into the crowd. Germany, 21 December 2024 Photo: Axel Schmidt / Reuters
On Sunday, the German government announced the launch of a swift and detailed investigation to clarify possible failures by authorities to prevent a car attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg. The attack, which took place on Friday, left five people dead and more than 200 injured, AFP reports.
German Interior Minister Nancy Feser said that investigators are “working at an accelerated pace” and are looking into all the circumstances of the incident.
“The suspect’s statements and statements, as well as the indicators and procedures of various authorities and the judiciary, will be carefully checked in order to draw appropriate conclusions,” the minister stressed.
According to Feather, the aim of the investigation is to draw up a complete portrait of the suspect, whose behaviour “does not fit any known profile”. The Federal Police Bureau and local authorities are involved in the process.
Feather stressed that the suspect acted “incredibly violently and brutally, in a manner similar to an Islamist terrorist, although his ideology was anti-Muslim”.
On Saturday evening, the suspect appeared before a judge, who ruled to take him into custody.
According to Der Spiegel magazine, last year, Saudi intelligence services warned German intelligence services (BND) about the danger posed by Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen. He threatened Germany in posts on the X platform (formerly Twitter), stating that the country would “pay for its treatment of Saudi refugees”.
In 2013, al-Abdulmohsen was fined in the city of Rostock for “disturbing public order and threatening violence”. On the eve of the attack, he ignored a court summons in Berlin, where he was accused of insulting police officers at the police station.
Feather, along with other senior officials, will appear before the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee on 30 December to provide an update on the investigation.
This incident raised serious questions about the ability of German authorities to prevent such tragedies and exposed possible gaps in the system of oversight of potentially dangerous individuals.
