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BERLIN (AP) — A man stabbed several members of a group that describes itself as opposing “political Islam” on a central square in the German city of Mannheim on Friday, authorities said. Six people were wounded, including a police officer who intervened.
Police quickly put an end to the attack by shooting the assailant, who also was wounded.
The attack happened shortly after 11:30 a.m. (0930 GMT) on the Marktplatz, a downtown square in the southwestern city of Mannheim.
The assailant stabbed participants in an event organized by the Pax Europa group, wounding five members of the organization, police and prosecutors said in a statement. The police officer was stabbed several times from behind in the head, they added.
Another officer fired a shot at the assailant, bringing an end to the attack. The wounded were taken to various hospitals, where some of them underwent operations.
Several hours later, authorities said they couldn't yet give information on the severity of the injuries. They also said the assailant's identity hadn't yet been established.
Pax Europa describes itself as an organization that informs the public about the dangers posed by the “increasing spread and influence of political Islam.” It said that Michael Stürzenberger, an anti-Islam activist who is one of its leading figures and has spoken at its events, was among those wounded.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said that it’s up to the investigation to determine a motive. She said in a statement that “if the investigation shows an Islamist motive, that would be another confirmation of the great danger from Islamist acts of violence that we have warned of.”
Thomas Strobl, Faeser's regional counterpart in Baden-Wuerttemberg, where Mannheim is located, said that “we can't say anything yet about the perpetrator's motive.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz posted on X that “the pictures from Mannheim are terrible” and that “violence is absolutely unacceptable in our democracy.”
Mannheim, a city of about 300,000 people, is located south of Frankfurt.