The knifeman who launched a vicious attack against an anti-Islamification demonstration in Mannheim, Germany on Friday has been identified as a migrant from Afghanistan who came to the country ten years ago.
According to a report from Bild, Germany’s highest-circulation paper, the brutal knife attack that shocked the nation was carried out by a 25-year-old “Sulaiman A.”, a migrant who entered Germany in 2014.
The Afghan migrant targeted a small rally against political Islam in Germany hosted by Michael Stürzenberger, a member of the “Citizens’ Movement Pax Europa” campaign group.
Stürzenberger, a longtime opponent of Islamic immigration to Germany, was one of six people — including a police officer — to have been injured during the frantic combat knife attack on Friday.
Following an emergency operation, Stürzenberger wrote on Telegram: “It was really close yesterday. Four doctors just came to do a round. The stab wound to the side of my chest, which went towards my lungs, could have been life-threatening.
“The stab wound to my thigh hit veins and caused significant blood loss. There was a second stab wound to my leg above the knee, but luckily the tendon was not damaged.The injury to my upper arm was relatively minor. The stab wounds to my face were different. I have staples in the side of my jaw. My upper lip was stitched up and I had a gaping open wound down to my teeth.”
“A big thank you to all the doctors and facial surgeons who came especially from a specialist clinic,” he said, adding: “What a single Afghan ‘refugee’ can do with a knife…”
The 59-year-old activist, who has previously faced multiple criminal proceedings for his anti-Islam statements, is now being guarded in his hospital bed by police.
Forensics officers stand behind a smashed stall on the market square in Mannheim, Germany, Friday, May 31, 2024. An assailant with a knife attacked and wounded several people in a central square in the southwestern German city of Mannheim on Friday, police said. Police shot the attacker, who also was hurt. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)
During the attack, a police officer was also stabbed multiple times from behind around his head by the Afghan migrant. The officer has reportedly been placed in an artificial coma, with a spokesman for the State Criminal Police Office saying on Saturday that “his life is still in danger”.
After stabbing five people, Sulaiman A. was shot by a police officer for which he underwent surgery. The 25-year-old migrant from Afghanistan has therefore not been able to be questioned by police and thus no motive has been identified for the attack.
According to Bild, the migrant lived in the city of Heppenheim in the state of Hesse, an approximately 40-minute drive away from the site of the attack in Mannheim on Friday.
Speaking to the paper, a neighbour of Sulaiman’s said: “He was inconspicuous, we greeted each other normally… But recently, about the last year, I noticed that he had changed. Before, he was helpful, then he suddenly became colder. He was suddenly more withdrawn. And also more aggressive.”
“In hindsight, you have to be glad that nothing happened to you,” another said. “He drives a VW Passat and attacks Germans with a knife, that doesn’t fit together.”
The attack has sent shockwaves throughout Germany. Chancellor Olaf Scholz responded to the barbaric act: “The images from Mannheim are terrible… My thoughts are with the victims. Violence is absolutely unacceptable in our democracy. The perpetrator must be severely punished.”