A car attack on a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg killed at least five people and injured more than 200 on Friday. The suspect, identified as Taleb A., a doctor born in Saudi Arabia who has lived in Germany since 2006, has been arrested.

Discussions around preventing radicalisation through education have resurfaced in the wake of the attack.

Counter-terrorism consultant Rebecca Schönenbach commented on X, saying, "Education does not prevent radicalisation [...]"

Euronews reached out to Schönenbach to comment further on her statement.

Schönenbach explained: "Highly educated individuals are often found in organised terrorist groups. For example, the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, banned in Germany, has historically advertised themselves at universities."

"Radical left-wing organisations, such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is designated as a terrorist group by the EU, also recruit within student communities. This has been seen at German universities, especially since 7 October 2023."

"These examples demonstrate that education does not automatically prevent radicalisation. Therefore, while education is important, it cannot be the sole preventative measure," Schönenbach concluded.

Radical statements of Talib A.

In the case of Taleb A., it has become clear that he had been spreading Islamophobic views online for years and showed support for the Alternative for Germany (AfD). He expressed a desire to establish an academy for ex-Muslims in collaboration with the AfD and, according to several media reports, stated: "Who else is fighting Islam in Germany?"

Local media reports also indicate that German authorities had already received warnings from Saudi Arabia about Taleb A.

Taleb A. was primarily active on X (formerly Twitter), where he called for retaliation against the German state, saying, "I assure you that revenge will come 100 per cent soon. Even if it costs me my life."

He accused the German state of Islamisation and also posted in June: "We need AfD to protect the police from themselves."

Euronews asked Rebecca Schönenbach how she views the radicalisation of older people on social media.

"The potential for online radicalisation is not limited to Twitter; older individuals are also targeted on other social platforms. In general, people over 50 are more likely to share fake news, as they tend to have more difficulty recognising it compared to younger online users. In the case of the Magdeburg perpetrator, however, several factors come into play. His activity on X demonstrates a radical attitude, but whether his radicalisation occurred solely online is questionable." she explained.

Schönenbach also noted that, to date, there is "no publicly confirmed information about the Magdeburg perpetrator's social environment, mental health, personal contacts, or other factors that could have contributed to his radicalisation."

Suspect had already been reported to authorities

Schönenbach continues: "What is certain is that he had already been reported to the authorities by at least two people, meaning he had been on their radar for months, if not years. This raises the question of whether his professional environment noticed any behavioural issues."

However, Schönenbach adds that, at this point, too much remains unclear "to make any definitive statements."

According to information from the news magazine Der Spiegel, a complaint was filed against Taleb A. in December 2023. The complaint referred to X posts by A. in which he claimed that Germany would "pay a price" for allegedly persecuting Saudi Arabian refugees. The Saxony-Anhalt State Criminal Police Office (LKA) investigated the complaint, and their assessment revealed that no specific threat had emerged from his posts.

The organisation Säkuläre Flüchtlingshilfe also stated in a press release that it had been in contact with the alleged perpetrator in the past, with the last extrajudicial contact taking place in 2018.

"Initially, there were plans to collaborate in coordinating help for atheist refugees from Saudi Arabia. However, this cooperation ultimately failed," the statement read.

Since then, contact with Taleb A. has only been through lawyers and the courts. The organisation reported that its members filed a police complaint in 2019 "following the most vile slander and verbal attacks from him."

"Throughout this time, we have been unable to identify any reason for his defamation campaign or the aggressiveness of his accusations," the statement continued.

Further information from Der Spiegel revealed that the alleged perpetrator was scheduled to appear in court in Magdeburg on 19 December, one day before the attack. He had been issued a penalty order for "misuse of emergency calls" in Berlin in February 2024, but Taleb A. had appealed.

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Suspect in deadly Christmas market attack railed against Islam and Germany

The Saudi suspect in Germany's deadly car-ramming attack on a Christmas market held strongly anti-Islam views and was angry with Germany's migrant policy, official said Saturday.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned the "terrible, insane" attack that killed five people and shocked the nation, days before Christmas and eight years after a jihadist drove a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin.

Police were puzzling over the motive of Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, the top suspect after an SUV ploughed at high speed through a dense crowd Friday, also injuring 205 people in the eastern city of Magdeburg.

The mass carnage sparked sorrow and revulsion, with a nine-year-old child among the dead and casualties being treated in 15 regional hospitals.

Germany has been hit by multiple deadly jihadist attacks, but evidence gathered by investigators and his past online posts painted a different picture of Abdulmohsen, a 50-year-old doctor of psychiatry.

A self-described "Saudi atheist" who as an activist who helped women flee the oil-rich kingdom, he has railed against Islam but also against what he saw as Germany's permissive attitude towards refugees from other mainly Muslim countries.

Interior Minister Nancy Fraser said he held "Islamophobic" views, and a prosecutor said that "the background to the crime... could have been disgruntlement with the way Saudi Arabian refugees are treated in Germany".

Taha Al-Hajji of the Berlin-based European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights told AFP Abdulmohsen was "a psychologically disturbed person with an exaggerated sense of self-importance".

- Call for unity -

Abdulmohsen in his online posts spoke about his troubles with and suspicions of German authorities.

Last August, he posted on social media: "Is there a path to justice in Germany without blowing up a German embassy or randomly slaughtering German citizens? ... If anyone knows it, please let me know."

Die Welt daily reported, citing security sources, that German state and federal police had carried out a "risk assessment" on him last year but concluded that he posed "no specific danger".

A sombre Scholz, dressed in black, visited the attack site Saturday together with national and regional politicians laying flowers outside the main church in Magdeburg.

Mourning and bereaved residents have left candles, flowers, cards and children's toys at the Johanneskirche church, where a memorial service was planned at 7:00 pm (1800 GMT).

Scholz pledged the state would respond "with the full force of the law" to the attack but also called for unity as Germany has been rocked by a heated debate on immigration and security ahead of elections in February.

The centre-left chancellor said it was important "that we stick together, that we link arms, that it is not hatred that determines our coexistence but the fact that we are a community that seeks a common future."

He said he was grateful for expressions of "solidarity... from many, many countries around the world. It is good to hear that we as Germans are not alone in the face of this terrible catastrophe."

- 'Sad and shocked' -

Surveillance video footage of the attack showed a black BMW racing straight through the crowd, scattering bodies amid the festive stalls that were selling traditional handicrafts, snacks and mulled wine.

On Saturday, debris and discarded medical materials blew across the cordoned-off site, where stalls now stand empty around a giant Christmas tree, the event cancelled for the year out of respect for the victims.

The leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alice Weidel, which has focused on jihadist attacks in its campaign against immigrants, wrote on X: "When will this madness stop?"

"What happened today affects a lot of people. It affects us a lot," Fael Kelion, a 27-year-old Cameroonian living in the city, told AFP.

"I think that since (the suspect) is a foreigner, the population will be unhappy, less welcoming."

Michael Raarig, 67 and an engineer, said that "I am sad, I am shocked. I never would have believed this could happen, here in an east German provincial town."

He added that he believed the attack "will play into the hands of the AfD" which has had its strongest support in the formerly communist eastern Germany.

Security was stepped up Saturday at Christmas markets elsewhere in Germany with more police seen in Hamburg, Leipzig and other cities.

German footballers were holding a minute's silence and wearing black armbands in weekend matches in tribute to the victims.

The regional Evangelical church announced that at 7:03 p.m. (1803 GMT) "the time of yesterday's attack on the Christmas market, the bells of all churches in Magdeburg and many places of worship in the surrounding area will ring".

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German authorities probe motive in deadly Christmas market attack

Authorities investigated a Saudi doctor with a history of anti-Islam rhetoric as the suspected driver in a car-ramming attack on a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg that killed five people and injured scores.

The Friday evening attack on crowds gathered to celebrate the Christmas season could sharpen a fierce debate in Germany over security and immigration ahead of a national election in February, with opinion polls suggesting the far right will perform strongly.

Authorities said on Saturday the motive was not clear. However, the Magdeburg prosecutor, Horst Nopens, said one possible factor could be what he called the suspect's frustration with Germany's handling of Saudi refugees.

The suspect, a 50-year-old psychiatrist who has lived in Germany for almost two decades, was arrested at the scene following the three-minute attack in the central city that shocked the country. Police did not name the suspect, identified by German media only as Taleb A.

The driver used emergency exit points to slowly navigate the vehicle towards the market, before picking up speed and ploughing into the crowd, a city police official told reporters.

Those killed were a nine-year-old child and four adults, Magdeburg city official Ronni Krug said, adding that some 41 of the injured had either serious or critical injuries.

"I don't know about you, but I associate the Christmas market with mulled wine and bratwurst, and yesterday people died in this area. Others are fighting for their lives," Krug said.

Authorities closed the market for the remainder of the season.

"What a terrible act it is to injure and kill so many people with such brutality," Chancellor Olaf Scholz said during a visit to the city, where he laid a white rose at a church.

ONLINE POSTS

Posts on the suspect's X account, verified by Reuters, suggested he supported anti-Islam and far-right parties, including the Alternative for Germany (AfD), and had criticised Germany for its handling of Saudi refugees.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the suspect's Islamophobia was clear to see, but she declined to comment on the motive.

Friedrich Merz, leader of the opposition Christian Democrats and current favourite to succeed Scholz as chancellor, cautioned against drawing hasty conclusions.

"Yesterday's horrific act in Magdeburg does not fit the familiar pattern," he said.

Taleb A. appeared in a number of media interviews in 2019, including with German newspaper FAZ and the BBC, in which he spoke of his work as an activist helping Saudi Arabians and people who had turned away from Islam to flee to Europe.

"There is no good Islam," he told FAZ at the time.

A Saudi source told Reuters that Saudi Arabia had warned German authorities about the suspect after he posted extremist views on his X account that threatened peace and security.

A German security source said Saudi authorities had sent several tips in 2023 and 2024 and that these had been passed on to the relevant security authorities.

A risk assessment conducted last year by German state and federal criminal investigators came to the conclusion that the man posed "no specific danger", the Welt newspaper reported, citing security sources.

Germany's domestic and foreign intelligence agencies both declined to comment on the investigation. The state and federal criminal investigation offices did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.

'CHILDREN SCREAMING'

Andrea Reis was at the market on Friday and returned on Saturday with her daughter Julia to lay a candle by the church overlooking the site, and said she had narrowly escaped being in the path of the car.

Tears ran down her face as she described the scene. "Children screaming, crying for mama. You can't forget that," she said.

Scholz's Social Democrats are trailing both the far-right AfD and the frontrunner conservative opposition in opinion polls before snap elections set for Feb. 23.

The AfD, which enjoys particularly strong support in the former East, has led calls for a crackdown on immigration.

Its chancellor candidate, Alice Weidel, and co-leader Tino Chrupalla issued a statement condemning the attack.

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