BERLIN (AFP) — A prominent Islam critic was among several people wounded in a knife attack Friday in Germany denounced as "terrible" by Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The attack just days before EU-wide elections comes amid a spike of politically motivated violence in Germany.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser raised the possibility that the assault could be Islamist motivated, and vowed a thorough investigation into the case.
A man with a knife attacked and wounded several people on the market square in the city of Mannheim at around 11:35 am (5:35 EDT), police said in a statement.
Five of those wounded were taking part in a rally organised by Pax Europa, a campaign group against radical Islam, police said.
A police officer who intervened was also stabbed several times in the back of the head, it said.
Police then shot at the attacker, who was also wounded as a result.
"The extent and severity of the injuries are not yet known," the police said, adding that there was no further danger to the public.
"The images from Mannheim are terrible," Scholz wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "Violence is absolutely unacceptable in our democracy. The perpetrator must be severely punished."
According to several media reports, one of the victims was Michael Stuerzenberger, a German far-right activist and blogger.
Stuerzenberger had been due to speak at a rally in Mannheim on Friday organized by Pax Europa, a campaign group against radical Islam.
The group said on its website that Stuerzenberger and several Pax Europa volunteers were wounded in a knife attack at the rally.
Stuerzenberger suffered serious stab wounds to his face and also to his leg, while a police officer was also stabbed in the back and neck, the group said.
‘Great danger’
Stuerzenberger has been a prominent anti-Islam campaigner in Germany for several years.
Pax Europa has been classed as Islamophobic by Bavarian security services, which have also accused Stuerzenberger of making "Islamophobic statements."
Faeser also denounced the attack, calling for a thorough investigation into the motive.
"If the investigations reveal an Islamist motive, this would be a further confirmation of the great danger posed by Islamist acts of violence," the minister said in a statement.
Germany has been on high alert for possible Islamist attacks since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, with the country's domestic intelligence chief warning that the risk of such assaults is "real and higher than it has been for a long time."
The country had also seen a spate of attacks on politicians at work or on the campaign trail in the run-up to the EU elections on June 9.
Matthias Ecke, a European parliament lawmaker for Scholz's SPD, was set upon earlier this month by a group of youths as he put up election posters in the eastern city of Dresden.
Days later, former Berlin mayor Franziska Giffey was hit on the head and neck with a bag as she visited a library in Berlin.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier last week said he was worried by the growing trend and Germans "must never get used to violence in the battle of political opinions."
—
By FEMKE COLBORNE Agence France-Presse
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
