Afghan asylum seeker arrested after car ramming ‘attack’ in Germany

MUNICH, Germany: Police have arrested an Afghan asylum seeker at the scene of what German leaders labelled a car ramming “attack” that wounded 28 people, some seriously, in the southern city of Munich on Thursday.

The carnage came on the eve of a high-profile security conference in the Bavarian city and amid a heated immigration debate ahead of February 23 elections following a spate of similar attacks.

The vehicle, a Mini Cooper, barrelled into a demonstration held by trade unionists, leaving a trail of victims and scattering their belongings on the street. Police at the scene fired a shot at the battered car and detained the driver, a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker who was identified by German media as Farhad N.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned the “awful” attack and promised severe consequences. “From my point of view it is quite clear: this attacker cannot count on any mercy, he must be punished and he must leave the country,” Scholz told reporters.

Shoes, glasses and an infant stroller were left littered in the wake of the suspected attack, which follows a deadly car rampage at a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg in December. Alexa Graef, a witness, said she was “shocked” after seeing the car drive into the crowd, “which looked deliberate”.