The motive remains unclear of the perpetrator of last night’s attack on Magdeburg’s outdoor Christmas market, the authorities, however, according to Der Spiegel magazine, appear to have ruled out Islamist terrorism. However, a Saudi source told Reuters that the country had warned German authorities about the attacker after he posted extremist views on his personal X account that threatened peace and security.

His profile is the focus of the investigation Saudi Taleb A.who drove a car straight into the assembled crowd.

According to him new tally 4 people lost their lives – including a child – 41 of those injured in the attack are in a critical condition, 86 people are hospitalized with serious injuries and 78 others with minor injuries, according to German Bild.

The 50 year old psychiatrist he was born in Khufouf, Saudi Arabia in 1974 and in 2006 he arrived in Germany asking for asylum, as he had renounced Islam and feared for his life. Since 2016 he has been enjoying political refugee status until today he worked in a psychiatric clinic in Bernburg, a town of 32,000 inhabitants about 50 kilometers south of Magdeburg, in Saxony-Anhalt.

Taleb A. it was well-known in the self-exiled Saudi community and even acted as a “point of contact” for fellow asylum seekers in Germany, especially women.

Indicatively, in an interview he gave in 2019 to the Frankfurter Rundschau, he stated that women from his homeland turn to him for protection, mainly because “they were raped by their husband-guardian” and he argued that the German asylum system was a “road to freedom” for them.

Recently, however, the 50-year-old seems to have moved away from these views and accused Germany of seeking the Islamization of Europe.

Germany

“Germany must protect its borders from illegal immigration. It has become clear that the open border policy was a plan by ‘Angela Merkel to Islamise Europe’, he often wrote on the ‘X’ platform and directly expressed his sympathy for the Alternative for Germany (AfD): “Who else is fighting Islam in Germany?”, he wrote in his posts. Three years ago he even addressed the AfD proposing the establishment of an academy for ex-Muslims.

In another video posted on an American anti-Islam blog, Taleb A. seems to adopt a conspiracy theory about “secret business” of the German state to “hunt down and neutralize” Saudi ex-Muslims around the world, “while Syrian jihadists receive asylum in the country”.

It appears from his posts and comments that he was a critic of Joe Biden’s immigration policy in the US and a fan of billionaire businessman Elon Musk.

According to BILD, shortly before Taleb A. rent the black BMW X-5 and drive it to the Christmas market, he had posted a video, in which he introduced himself as “Taleb A. psychiatrist working in Germany” and in a chaotic monologue claimed, among other things, that in Germany critics of Islam are “actively and criminally” persecuted.

The testimonies from the attack in Germany are shocking

Eyewitnesses who were at the Christmas market in Magdeburg at the time of the attack are shocked.

A woman who was with her boyfriend at the Christmas market in Magdeburg at the time of the attack told local media that she saw the car used in the attack speeding towards them.

“He hit him and left my arms. It was terrible,” 32-year-old Nadine told Bild newspaper.

The friend has leg and head injuries.

Lars Frohmüller, a reporter for public broadcaster MDR who arrived at Magdeburg’s Christmas market shortly after the attack, told the BBC of what he saw.

“There were ambulances everywhere, there were police, there were a lot of firefighters. It was a real chaotic situation. We saw blood on the street, we saw people sitting next to each other and they had gold and silver leaves around them. And we saw many doctors trying to warm people up and help them with their injuries. It’s a big shock. It is a great shock to every people here in Magdeburg and to every person in Saxony-Anhalt.”

World leaders condemn the attack
“Our thoughts are with the victims, their families and all those affected. Greece stands in full solidarity with the German people in these difficult times. Violence has no place in our societies,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed in his post.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the “brutal and cowardly act” in Magdeburg.

In a statement to X, the German politician said her thoughts were “with the victims”.

“My condolences to the family and friends, my thanks to the police and rescue teams,” he said. “This act of violence must be investigated and severely punished.”

The US government has expressed dismay at the deadly car attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, which killed at least two people and injured dozens more.

In a post on Platform X (formerly Twitter), State Department spokesman Matthew Miller expressed Washington’s dismay at the Magdeburg attack. “We send our condolences to those affected and stand by our friend and ally Germany,” the US State Department spokesman said.

“I am deeply shocked by the barbaric attack on the crowd at the Christmas market in Magdeburg. With my government, I stand by the families of the victims, the injured and the entire German people. In our democracies, there must be no room for violence,” said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron wrote for his part on the X platform. “I am deeply shocked by the horrific attack on the Magdeburg Christmas market in Germany.”

“My thoughts are with the victims, the injured and their families. France shares the grief of the German people and expresses its full solidarity.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez joined other world leaders in condemning the Magdeburg attack.

He says he is “shocked” by what happened at the Christmas market, adding that he has spoken to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to express his solidarity with the victims, their families and the entire German people.

The Saudi government also expressed “solidarity with the German people and the families of the victims,” ​​in a statement to X, and “confirmed the rejection of violence.”