On February 13th at 10:30 am Munich time, a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker drove a car into a union demonstration in Munich, injuring at least 28 people and killing one mother.
In December 2024, a similar attack was carried out by a Saudi migrant targeting a Christmas market, a recurring focus of Islamist attacks in Germany. These incidents date back to 2016 when ISIS killed 12 people and injured over 50 others in a vehicle attack in Berlin.
The Saudi government had previously warned German authorities about the individual responsible for the December 2024 attack.
Following the ISIS attack in 2016, a similar ramming attack occurred in Spain in August 2017. A Moroccan jihadist drove a rental van into a crowd in Barcelona, killing 13 people and injuring over 130.
This trend of vehicle-based attacks has been apparent in Western European countries like Germany and Spain, both of which have opened their borders to millions of migrants in recent years, primarily from Islamic countries.
Elon Musk has highlighted these issues in a series of tweets discussing politics in Germany and promoting the AfD party, also known as Alternative for Germany.
The AfD, often described as far-right by its opponents, has been under intense scrutiny from European liberal media since its recent rise in popularity.
In the 2021 election, the AfD secured around 10% of the vote, with current polling indicating they could double that figure in 2025.
Germany’s federal election is scheduled for February 23rd. With such attacks continuing to raise concerns about Germany’s security situation, the AfD is likely to achieve its largest vote share in history.
