German authorities have identified the chief suspect in a deadly attack in Berlin on Saturday as a 21-year-old German citizen of Lebanese roots, who was previously known to police for a 'high number' of previous crimes and for being radicalised, according to officials.
The attack on the outskirts of Berlin late Saturday left one woman dead and 29 people injured.
The suspect, identified by authorities as Abdul Ballout, is suspected of driving a white Citroen minivan with a Berlin number plate into a crowd on the southern edge of a central Berlin park shortly before 10pm on Saturday, before crashing into a tree. Abdul Ballout then allegedly used a machete to attack more people. Police described him as thin, around 1.9m tall, with black hair, wearing a black hoodie and white trousers.
Alexander Dobrindt stated that Abdul Ballout belonged to the 'Islamist scene' and said: 'Everything we see here indicates that this was an Islamist terror attack.' German media reported that Abdul Ballout was a supporter of the Islamic State (IS) group. He had a criminal conviction from May for 'preparing a serious act of subversive violence', after a trip to Middle East in a failed attempt to join IS. He was sentenced to 1 year and 10 months in jail, but the sentence was suspended.
29 people were hurt, some with life-threatening injuries. The attack took place on the same day as the Christopher Street Day (CSD) parade, one of Europe's largest Pride events, which drew hundreds of thousands of attendees.
Everything we see here indicates that this was an Islamist terror attack.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz appealed to the public to 'not let yourselves be intimidated' and said: 'These people have only one aim - to divide our society.' Hundreds of people attended a vigil in front of the Brandenburg Gate holding rainbow flags and flowers. Luka, a 23-year-old student, told AFP she hoped the attack would not be 'instrumentalised' by the anti-immigration far-right. Armin Duenhoelter, a 49-year-old drag artist from Wolfsburg, was backstage at the main stage when celebrations were cut short. He told AFP he was still 'shocked' but vowed to return next year, adding: 'But we won't let it beat us down.'
Martin Hess, a lawmaker from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), said the attack was the result of 'a complete failure of the government's security policies'. Politicians in Germany and elsewhere in Europe widely condemned the attack, and the flag at the German Bundestag was lowered to half-mast.
The deadliest attack in recent years was a truck rampage at a Berlin market in December 2016 by a Tunisian man with jihadist motives that killed 13 people. In 2024, a Saudi psychiatrist and anti-Islam activist, Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen, killed 6 people and wounded more than 300 in a car-ramming at a Christmas market in Magdeburg.