(Deutsche Welle) Last week’s knife attack in the Bavarian city of Würzburg left three people dead and seven injured — five of them seriously. The suspect is a man from Somalia whose asylum application had been rejected.
Police are investigating his motives, including potential links to violent Islamism. So far, all they can confirm is that he was being treated for psychological issues.
Just the whiff of Islamist extremism brings the debate over religiously and politically motivated violence back into focus in Germany. It recalls memories of the Islamist-inspired Christmas market attack in Berlin, which left 12 people dead and more than 60 injured, as well as far-right attacks in Halle and Hanau in 2019 and 2020, respectively, targeting Jews and people with Turkish roots. Walter Lübcke, a regional conservative politician, was gunned down in front of his home in 2019 for his pro-refugee stance.
