Police believe an Afghan man suspected of driving a car into a group of people in Munich may have had Islamist extremist motives, authorities said on Friday as German leaders paid tribute to the dozens wounded in the attack.
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The carnage on Thursday came on the eve of an international security conference in the Bavarian city and amid a heated debate in Germany on immigration ahead of February 23 elections following a spate of similar attacks.
Initial assessments of evidence seized from electronic devices belonging to the suspect showed a “certain Islamist orientation”, police spokesman Guido Limmer told reporters.
After the incident, the suspect uttered the words “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest) to police officers and also prayed after his arrest, prosecutor Gabriele Tilmann added.
The 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker, identified by German media as Farhad N., is accused of deliberately driving a Mini Cooper into a trade union demonstration in Munich.
A total of 36 people were wounded in the incident, Limmer told reporters, with two in a critical condition, including a child.