Latest news with #FarhadNoori
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Yahoo
Car ‘driven into pedestrians' in German city Mannheim weeks after Munich attack
A car has driven into a crowd of people in Mannheim, Germany, according to reports. Several people were seen lying on the ground with two casualties being helped by emergency workers after the incident, an eye witness told Reuters on Monday. Heavily armed officers are stationed in Mannheim's central square Paradeplatz, and blocking the bridges near Ludwigshafen, Mannheim's neighbouring city. Local outlet Mannheimer Morgen (MM) report witnesses saying that at least one person is dead, but this has not been confirmed by authorities. One eyewitness reported seeing a driver knocking over several pedestrians in Planken, main shopping street in the city of around 300,000, the outlet added. The incident occurred as crowds gathered in cities across regions including Germany's Rhineland for parades to mark the carnival season. A carnival market has reportedly been underway in Mannheim's city centre since Thursday, consisting of 60 food stalls and rides. One stall holder at the market said, according to MM: 'It is terrible here, nobody knows what happened, you only see injured people and the dead, and you don't know what to do.' The interior ministry at Baden-Württemberg is warning of a 'life threatening situation' via a warning app, as the population is advised by police to avoid the city centre. A person was seen being covered with a sheet by a reporter for German news agency dpa, meanwhile BILD reports that it was a black SUV which drove into the crowd. A spokesperson for Mannheim police said: 'There is currently a police operation in Mannheim city center, in the area around Wasserturm/Plankenkopf. Police and rescue services are on their way.' It comes just weeks after a car drove into a crowd of people in Munich, killing a 37-year-old woman and her two-year-old daughter, and leading to the arrest of Farhad Noori, the Afghan asylum seeker suspected to be behind the attack.
The Independent
15-02-2025
- The Independent
Mother and two-year-old girl die from Munich car attack injuries
A mother and daughter have died days after they suffered severe injuries during a car ramming attack in Munich. German police said a 37-year-old woman and her 2-year-old daughter died on Saturday from injuries they sustained when a car was driven into a crowd in Munich on Thursday. They are the first fatalities from the incident. "Unfortunately, we have to confirm the deaths today of the two-year-old child and her 37-year-old mother," a police spokesman told AFP. At least 36 people were injured after a Mini Cooper was rammed into a group of trade union members on Seidlstrasse at around 10:30am. An Afghan bodybuilder with thousands of online followers admitted to deliberately driving into a crowd in Munich, prosecutors said on Friday in what authorities believe was an attack motivated by Islamic extremism. Anti-terror police in Germany are investigating the incident, and the suspect has been named as Farhad Noori by the Munich prosecutor's office. The Munich prosecutor's office told Die Zeit that there were at least "indications of an extremist background'. The 24-year-old asylum-seeker was arrested by police soon after the incident, which took place a mile away from the venue where the Munich Security Conference is being held on Friday. US vice president JD Vance and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the city on the same day as the attack, though at this stage authorities do not believe there is a connection.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Germany is still in denial about its terror nightmare
An empty pram lies forlorn, on a street covered in debris and police tape. In Munich, a failed Afghan asylum seeker has driven his car into a crowd. Among the injured are a mother and her small child, who are still struggling for their lives. Like many German mothers, I find myself wondering how safe it is to push my 14 month old daughter through the town where we live. Farhad Noori, the alleged attacker named by German media, injured 39 people. Born in Kabul in 2001, he came to Germany as an asylum seeker in 2016. His asylum application was subsequently rejected but he appealed. His case dragged on for three years and, even though it ended with a decision that he could be deported, he was given a temporary residence permit instead. He became a bodybuilder and a security guard, gaining 68,000 followers on Instagram for pictures of him posing at bodybuilding competitions. That left him free to allegedly attack the crowd in a white Mini Cooper near a demonstration organised by the trade union Verdi, who a few weeks ago criticised the German right for wanting to reform the country's absurdly lax asylum policies. For Germans, this sort of attack is becoming normalised. Only a fortnight ago, another Afghan asylum seeker, armed with a knife, attacked a kindergarten outing in a park. He murdered a two-year old Moroccan child and the 41-year old man who intervened to protect the children. Yet, the German political class seems largely indifferent. When the Vice President of the Bundestag Katrin Göring-Eckardt was recently asked on a talk show about trying to get rid of dual national criminals, she responded, 'I think that has damned little to do with people's everyday lives'. This sentiment echoes the now infamous (and hubristic) declaration by Angela Merkel during the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis: 'Wir schaffen das', 'we can handle this'. Ordinary Germans clearly disagree, which is why the two leading parties in this month's election are both on the right: the CDU and AfD. Whether that will change things remains to be seen. The 'Brandmauer' or 'firewall' means that the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is shamed into not cooperating with the more hardcore Alternative for Germany (AfD), which leaves the right divided. When the CDU dared to accept AfD votes on a non-binding motion to tackle migration issues, it led to staffers in their Berlin HQ having to be evacuated to escape left-wing protestors. Rolf Mützenich from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) accused the CDU of having opened 'the gates of hell', and party leader Merz even faced internal opposition. If the firewall still stands after this month's election, then the chance of reform on immigration is low, because the left-wing parties will be able to block it. That will mean more nightmarish stories like that of Christoph R, a young CDU member who had his throat cut in his own apartment by a Guinean asylum seeker, who went on to attack a Ukrainian woman. Once again, his asylum case had been rejected but, nonetheless, he was given temporary residence because he could speak German. Over and over again the same story plays out. Asylum seekers, often known to the authorities, and with no right to be in the country, go on to commit horrific crimes against innocent people. There are around a quarter of a million foreigners who have been told to leave but haven't. Almost none will do so, and they are rarely forced to go by the authorities. Mainstream German politicians face a simple choice. Either they accept that the asylum crisis needs to be tackled, or the firewall has to fall so that a united right can put an end to it. The only question is how many innocent Germans they will allow to suffer before this happens. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
15-02-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Germany is still in denial about its terror nightmare
An empty pram lies forlorn, on a street covered in debris and police tape. In Munich, a failed Afghan asylum seeker has driven his car into a crowd. Among the injured are a mother and her small child, who are still struggling for their lives. Like many German mothers, I find myself wondering how safe it is to push my 14 month old daughter through the town where we live. Farhad Noori, the alleged attacker named by German media, injured 39 people. Born in Kabul in 2001, he came to Germany as an asylum seeker in 2016. His asylum application was subsequently rejected but he appealed. His case dragged on for three years and, even though it ended with a decision that he could be deported, he was given a temporary residence permit instead. He became a bodybuilder and a security guard, gaining 68,000 followers on Instagram for pictures of him posing at bodybuilding competitions. That left him free to allegedly attack the crowd in a white Mini Cooper near a demonstration organised by the trade union Verdi, who a few weeks ago criticised the German right for wanting to reform the country's absurdly lax asylum policies. For Germans, this sort of attack is becoming normalised. Only a fortnight ago, another Afghan asylum seeker, armed with a knife, attacked a kindergarten outing in a park. He murdered a two-year old Moroccan child and the 41-year old man who intervened to protect the children. Yet, the German political class seems largely indifferent. When the Vice President of the Bundestag Katrin Göring-Eckardt was recently asked on a talk show about trying to get rid of dual national criminals, she responded, 'I think that has damned little to do with people's everyday lives'. This sentiment echoes the now infamous (and hubristic) declaration by Angela Merkel during the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis: 'Wir schaffen das', 'we can handle this'. Ordinary Germans clearly disagree, which is why the two leading parties in this month's election are both on the right: the CDU and AfD. Whether that will change things remains to be seen. The 'Brandmauer' or 'firewall' means that the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is shamed into not cooperating with the more hardcore Alternative for Germany (AfD), which leaves the right divided. When the CDU dared to accept AfD votes on a non-binding motion to tackle migration issues, it led to staffers in their Berlin HQ having to be evacuated to escape left-wing protestors. Rolf Mützenich from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) accused the CDU of having opened 'the gates of hell', and party leader Merz even faced internal opposition. If the firewall still stands after this month's election, then the chance of reform on immigration is low, because the left-wing parties will be able to block it. That will mean more nightmarish stories like that of Christoph R, a young CDU member who had his throat cut in his own apartment by a Guinean asylum seeker, who went on to attack a Ukrainian woman. Once again, his asylum case had been rejected but, nonetheless, he was given temporary residence because he could speak German. Over and over again the same story plays out. Asylum seekers, often known to the authorities, and with no right to be in the country, go on to commit horrific crimes against innocent people. There are around a quarter of a million foreigners who have been told to leave but haven't. Almost none will do so, and they are rarely forced to go by the authorities. Mainstream German politicians face a simple choice. Either they accept that the asylum crisis needs to be tackled, or the firewall has to fall so that a united right can put an end to it. The only question is how many innocent Germans they will allow to suffer before this happens.
Al Jazeera
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Suspect confesses to Munich car ramming that injured dozens in Germany
The suspect in a Munich car ramming that injured dozens of people has confessed to intentionally driving the vehicle into a crowd, German authorities say, but no evidence points to his involvement in a violent group or network. German prosecutors on Friday said at least 36 people were injured in the incident, which is being treated as a murder attempt. The suspect was identified as Farhad Noori, a spokesperson for the public prosecutor's office in Munich said. According to prosecutor Gabriele Tilmann, the 24-year-old Afghan national admitted to having deliberately driven a white Mini Cooper into a labour union demonstration in the Bavarian capital on Thursday. Tilmann said the motive remained unclear and there was no evidence to suggest the suspect was affiliated with any 'Islamist' or 'terrorist' organisations. She added that there was no indication of any accomplices. However, she said the suspect 'gave an explanation that I would summarise as religious motivation'. 'I'm very cautious about making hasty judgements, but based on everything we know at the moment, I would venture to speak of an Islamist motivation for the crime,' she added. Tilmann explained that the suspect said 'Allahu Akbar', meaning 'God is the greatest' in Arabic, to police and then prayed after his arrest, which prompted a department that investigates political and religious violence to take on the case. The man was in Germany legally and had no previous convictions. Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter on Thursday corrected an earlier statement by the interior minister saying he was in Germany illegally and should have been deported. Immigration and security issues have dominated campaigning before February 23 federal elections, especially after other violent incidents in recent weeks, with polls showing the centre-right conservatives leading, followed by the far right. In December, six people were killed in an attack on a Christmas market in the northern city of Magdeburg, and last month, a toddler and adult were killed in a knife attack in the Bavarian town of Aschaffenburg. Foreign nationals have been arrested in both attacks. Conservative Friedrich Merz, the frontrunner to be Germany's next chancellor, said safety would be his top priority. 'We will enforce law and order. Everyone must feel safe in our country again. Something has to change in Germany,' Merz posted on X. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, in second place in opinion polls, also seized on the incident in Munich with co-leader Alice Weidel focusing on the driver being an Afghan asylum seeker. 'Should this go on forever? Migration turnaround now!' she posted on the social media platform X. The AfD is set for its best election result of about 20 percent, according to current polling, on an agenda that revolves largely around a crackdown on immigration. The latest attacks have inflamed the debate around this issue as resentment mounts towards asylum seekers. On Thursday, police in the eastern city of Dresden arrested a 21-year-old German suspect over a plot to bomb a shelter for asylum seekers.
