Germany: Munich car 'attack' injures 28, suspect detained

The Islamist rulers of Afghanistan, the Taliban, have said they would be prepared to cooperate with Germany on the deportation of Afghan asylum seekers — in return for the reestablishment of a consulate in Germany.

"We have shown that we are ready to reestablish consular services for Afghans in Germany which would cover all aspects of migration," a spokesman for the Taliban's Foreign Ministry told the dpa news agency in the wake of the car attack in Munich on Thursday.

The group are not prepared, however, to allow deportations via third countries such as Pakistan, which they say would breach existing international conventions.

"We are not prepared to accept irregular processes which circumvent Afghanistan and pose a danger for our national security," the spokesman said.

Critics have warned against official discussions with the Taliban, fearing the Islamists could exploit such cooperation with a western state to boost their international profile and reduce their geopolitical isolation.

The Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led coalition troops, sweeping through the country in a lightning campaign which culminated in chaotic scenes in the capital, Kabul.

The Bavarian branch of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has called for the resignation of Bavarian Premier Markus Söder following the attack in Munich, the capital of Bavaria, Germany's largest state.

The leader of the AfD's group in the state parliament, Katrin Ebner-Steiner, said Söder was "politically responsible for this terror attack."

The chairman of the AfD's Bavarian chapter, Stephan Protschka, said Söder "is not able to guarantee our safety" and also demanded the resignation of Bavarian State Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann.

Ebner-Steiner also demanded that "all [migrants] who have been ordered to leave the country be detained and held in pre-deportation custody."

According to the regional Bavarian Interior Ministry, responding to a request from Ebner-Steiner last month, there are currently over 25,000 migrants awaiting deportation in Bavaria. Ebner-Steiner did not elaborate on how exactly such a large number of people ought to be detained.

Both Söder and Herrmann are senior figures in the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister-party of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which is currently topping pre-election polls.

Former German Finance Minister Christian Lindner has called for tougher migration and deportation policies following the car ramming attack in Munich. He said the incident followed a pattern and accused the government of state failure.

"I can't do this ritualized consternation anymore because, alongside the sadness at such an act, a cold anger is growing inside me," said the leader of the business-focused Free Democrats (FDP), who were the junior partner in the coalition government until Lindner was dismissed in November.

"We need more control and consistency in migration, but also effective deportations, especially to Afghanistan," he said, referring to the nationality of the suspected perpetrator.

Lindner claimed that such policies had not been possible with his former coalition partners, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left Social Democrats (SPD) and the environmentalist Greens.

"Those who are not prepared to follow through with the necessary consequences [of such attacks] should not be permitted to carry political responsibility in Germany [and] should not be determining the fate of this country."

The relatively small FDP, which has regularly acted as a junior partner in coalition governments, is currently polling at around 4% ahead of federal elections later this month, and facing a battle to overcome the minimum 5% hurdle required to enter parliament.

Elsewhere near the eastern city of Dresden, police arrested a German national suspected of plotting an attack against a shelter for asylum seekers.

Prosecutors said they had received "an anonymous tip-off on February 12 that a 21-year-old German man from the Meissen area had armed himself with explosives to carry out an attack on a shelter for asylum seekers in Senftenberg." 

Senfenberg, a small town in the eastern state of Brandenburg, lies almost 70 kilometers (roughly 43 miles) north of Dresden.

Police raided two properties in the Meissen area in Saxony on Wednesday evening, confiscating "two pyrotechnic objects, knuckle dusters, folding knives" and various other weapons.

The suspect was taken into "provisional custody," the police and prosecutors said.

A prosecution department which investigates extremism and terrorism has taken over the probe into Thursday's ramming incident.

Bavaria's Justice Minister Georg Eisenreich and the police both said that the Central Office for Combating Extremism and Terrorism at the Munich Public Prosecutor General's Office was taking over the investigation.

Police added that there were "indications of an extremist background," while the German dpa news agency reported that the suspect was believed to have published what it described as an Islamist post on social media shortly before the attack.

Friederich Merz, the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU)'s leader and candidate for chancellor in the upcoming elections, has stressed that "something has to change in Germany," reacting to the ramming incident.

"The safety of the people in Germany will be our top priority," Merz said in a post on X. "We will consistently enforce law and order."

Merz's CDU is leading election polls with roughly 30% support among the German public. 

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser vowed "maximum firmness" following Thursday's ramming incident.

Faeser, of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), noted that the suspect was "once again a young man from Afghanistan." 

She noted that laws on violent criminals' deportation have been "massively tightened" and must now be enforced.

She said that Germany is the only country in Germany returning Afghans back to Afghanistan despite Taliban rule over the country. 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described Thursday's car ramming incident as "awful," adding that the suspect must be punished and deported.

"What has happened is awful," Scholz told reporters. "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 is the chancellor candidate for his center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the coming parliamentary elections, where migration issues have been at the forefront of debates. The opposition conservativeChristian Democratic Party (CDU), which is leading in the polls, has accused the Scholz government of being too lenient on migration issues.

Verdi, the union which organized the rally that the car rammed into during Thursday's suspected attack, said it was "deeply dismayed and shocked" by the incident during the "peaceful demonstration."

"At present, we have no reliable information about the background to the incident. We are not taking part in speculation and are awaiting the police investigation,” Verdi Chairman Frank Werneke said in a statement.

He added this was a "difficult moment" for all union colleagues.

"We trade unions stand for solidarity with one another, especially in such a dark hour."

Bavaria's interior minister, Joachim Hermann has said authorities "do not believe at present that there is any connection" with the Munich Security Conference (see below) that is due to start on Friday and has already triggered heightened security in the city.

Hermann said any potential motive of the driver had first to be investigated more closely.

Hermann also said the man was known to police, having committed shoplifting and drugs offenses in the past.

The Bavarian state premier Markus Söder has said the ramming incident in Munich shows a need for fundamental change in Germany.

"An Afghan citizen drove a car into a crowd and injured many people, some very seriously," Söder posted in response to the car plowing into a police-secured demonstration march by the Verdi trade union.

"This is not the first attack of this kind. Sympathy and coming to terms with the past are important. But something fundamental has to change in Germany," Söder wrote on the messaging platform X.

The arrested driver of the small car was a 24-year-old asylum seeker, police said.

Speaking to reporters, Söder described the incident as "a slap in the face."

The Bavarian capital Munich is currently preparing for the annual Munich Security Conference (MSC), amid tight security ahead of the major gathering of foreign policy experts and global leaders.

Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Hermann said authorities did not believe Thursday's suspected attack was related to the upcoming conference, scheduled to kick off on Friday.

Set to take place at the Bayerischer Hof hotel in Munich's city center, the conference is due to be attended by US Vice President JD Vance, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy as well as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, among other world leaders.

Conference management expressed "great shock" at Thursday's car-ramming incident, adding they were in contact with police.

Bavaria's state premier Markus Söder has said the ramming incident in Munich appeared to have been a deliberate attack. 

"I must tell you it looks like this was an attack," said Söeder, whose Bavaria-only Christian Social Union (CSU) is part of a national bloc with the conservative Christian Democrats.

According to police, the arrested driver of the small car was a 24-year-old asylum seeker from Afghanistan.

He approached a police-secured demonstration march by the Verdi trade union from behind, overtook a police vehicle, accelerated and drove into the back of the gathering.

A car drove into a group of people in central Munich, with the crash suspected to be a deliberate attack, according to Bavaria regional governor Markus Söder. At least 28 people have been injured.

Here's what to know about the car crash earlier in the day if you're joining us now.

We're moving our daily blog on German elections to cover the news on the car crash in Munich more closely. To make clear that we're treating the two separately, we have labeled entries specific to the parliamentary election as saying so (see all entries below).

Our initial report on the car crash is here and there's more on our YouTube channel.