A car crashed into a throng at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, on Friday, killing at least five people, including a toddler, and injuring more than 200 others. Taleb, a 50-year-old Saudi Arabian doctor, has been taken into custody by German police, who claim he was operating the vehicle. Notably, officials later acknowledged that there had only been five fatalities from the incident, despite previous reports claiming that eleven people had died.
Saudi man held in market attack
Five people were killed and numerous more were injured in a car-ramming incident on a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, which authorities believe was caused by a Saudi doctor with a history of using anti-Islamic sentiments. The attack on groups of people celebrating Christmas on Friday night may intensify Germany’s intense security and immigration debate in the run-up to the country’s February election, which is predicted to be dominated by the extreme right, according to opinion polls. The motivation was unclear, according to authorities on Saturday. Horst Nopens, the prosecutor for Magdeburg, stated that the suspect’s annoyance with Germany’s treatment of Saudi refugees might be a contributing factor.
After the shocking three-minute attack in the center city, the suspect a 50-year-old psychiatrist who has resided in Germany for nearly 20 years was taken into custody on the spot. The suspect, known only as Taleb A in German media, was not given a name by the police.
Arrest made in Christmas market tragedy
According to a city police official who spoke to the media, the driver used emergency exits to carefully maneuver the car towards the market before accelerating and crashing into the throng. According to Magdeburg municipal official Ronni Krug, four adults and a nine-year-old child were killed, and 41 people were injured, with 41 of them suffering from serious or critical injuries.
“I don’t know about you, but I think of bratwurst and mulled wine when I think of the Christmas market, and yesterday, people died here. According to Krug, “others are fighting for their lives.” The market was shut down by authorities for the rest of the season. “What a terrible act it is to injure and kill so many people with such brutality,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said when he visited the city and placed a white rose at a church before his speech. Verified by Reuters, posts on the suspect’s X account indicated that he had criticized Germany for its treatment of Saudi refugees and supported far-right and anti-Islamic organizations, such as the Alternative for Germany (AFD). Although she declined to comment on the motive, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser stated that the suspect’s Islamophobia was evident. Friedrich Merz, the head of the opposition Christian Democrats and the front-runner to become chancellor after Scholz, advised against making snap judgments.
Suspect caught in German attack
In 2019, Taleb A. was interviewed by several media outlets, including a German publication, where he discussed his work as an activist assisting Saudi Arabians and those who had abandoned Islam in their flight to Europe. He said,
“There is no good Islam,”
at the moment. Saudi Arabia had alerted German officials about the suspect because he shared radical beliefs that endangered peace and security on his X account, a Saudi source said. According to a German security source, the appropriate security authorities received many tips from Saudi authorities in 2023 and 2024. German state and federal criminal investigators concluded last year that the individual posed “no specific danger” after conducting a risk assessment. Both Germany’s foreign and domestic intelligence services refused to comment on the inquiry. A request for comment from Reuters was not answered by federal or state criminal investigation authorities.
Saudi suspect in market attack
Andrea Reis, who was at the market on Friday, said she barely avoided being in the car’s path when she returned on Saturday with her daughter Julia to lay a candle near the church that overlooked the location. As she described the scenario, tears streamed down her cheeks. “Children are crying and shouting for their mother. It’s important to remember that,” she remarked. Before the February 23 snap elections, Scholz’s Social Democrats were lagging behind the far-right AFD and the leading conservative opposition in opinion polls. Calls for a curb on immigration have been spearheaded, which has especially significant support in the former East. Both Alice Weidel, its candidate for chancellor, and Tino Chrupalla, its co-leader, condemned the attack in a statement.