MUNICH, Germany -- Police in Munich arrested an Afghan asylum seeker after he rammed a car into a crowd in the German city, injuring 28 people and leaving many Afghans in the country on edge amid calls during an election campaign for tougher immigration laws.
Despite a heavy police presence in the city a day before many high-profile leaders such as U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attend the Munich Security Conference, the man, identified by German media as 24-year-old Farhad N., drove his vehicle into a demonstration held by trade unionists.
"The suspect will be brought before an investigating judge tomorrow [February 14]. We are still at the crime scene with our forensic team and specialists," Munich police said.
Police said they fired one shot at the vehicle, a Mini Cooper, and arrested the man at the scene where victims, clothes and even a stroller were strewn around the street.
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After Car Attack In Munich, Germans And Migrants Warn Of Political Fallout
Munich police said authorities have "indications of an extremist motive" and that prosecutors are investigating. Several news outlets, including Der Spiegel, cited sources as saying the man is thought to have posted Islamist content online before the attack.
"Afghans living in Germany are deeply saddened and worried about their future due to this and similar incidents," Rahmatullah Ziarmaal, an Afghan journalist who lives in the city of Limburg, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi.
"Many Afghans feel particularly distressed by such events, fearing that anti-immigration parties will exploit them for political gain, making life even more difficult for refugees."
Joachim Herrmann, the interior minister for the state of Bavaria, said the suspect's application for asylum had been rejected, but he hadn't been deported because of security concerns in Afghanistan.
The incident is likely to enflame already heated rhetoric as Germans prepare to vote in parliamentary elections on February 23.
Germany has the largest Afghan community in Europe with an estimated 377,000 Afghan citizens residing in the country at the end of 2022, according to the country's statistics agency.
"We have to continue with deportations...even to Afghanistan, a very difficult country," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told reporters in Munich.
Several violent incidents involving immigrants have bolstered far-right candidates, who narrowly trail center-right conservatives.
Both have been critical of Social Democrat Chancellor Olaf Scholz, accusing him of being soft on immigration, which they blame for an increase in violent crime rates.
Yousuf Rahimi, an Afghan resident of Munich who is awaiting approval of his asylum application, told RFE/RL that many Afghans come to the country because of the open immigration policies but fail to assimilate and end up getting involved in crime and drugs.
"People like this create difficulties for Afghans like me who genuinely seek asylum, want to contribute positively to German society, and hope to build a future here," he said.