Munich car ramming: What happened, who’s the suspect, what’s next?

A car rammed into demonstrators in Munich on Thursday, injuring at least 28 people, in what a local official described as a suspected attack. The incident occurred hours before world leaders were set to arrive in the southern German city for the annual Munich Security Conference which is scheduled to open on Friday.

Here is what we know about the incident, the suspect – and how this might play out politically when Germany is preparing for closely contested federal elections on February 23.

What happened in Munich?

• A 24-year-old man drove a white Mini Cooper into a crowd of demonstrators near Munich’s central railway station, injuring at least 30 people, including children.
• The incident occurred at 10:30am (09:30 GMT) during a trade union protest, with about 1,500 participants in attendance.
• Employees from daycare centres, hospitals, sanitation services and public swimming pools were participating in the strike, demanding higher wages and extended holiday time.
• According to the police, the car passed a police cruiser monitoring the demonstration before ramming into the crowd.
• Authorities also said that the incident was likely an attack, adding that police fired at the suspect’s vehicle after it accelerated and hit people. It was unclear if the suspect was wounded.
  

  Where did it happen?

  • The incident occurred at the intersection of Karlstrasse and Seidlstrasse, near Munich Hauptbahnhof (the central train station) in the city.

  • The location is about one mile (1.5 kilometres) from where the Munich Security Conference will be held on Friday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, United States Vice President JD Vance and other world leaders, senior diplomats and journalists are expected to attend.

    What do we know about those injured?

    • German police reported that at least 30 people were injured.
    • The local fire department stated that some victims were in critical, life-threatening condition. Authorities confirmed that children were among the injured.

    What do we know about the suspect?

    The suspect has been identified as 24-year-old Farhad N, an Afghan asylum seeker who arrived in Germany in 2016 as an unaccompanied minor, at the age of 15. Al Jazeera is not fully naming the suspect because of German privacy laws.

    • His asylum application had been rejected, according to authorities, but his deportation was suspended due to instability in Afghanistan.
    • According to police, the suspect was previously known to authorities for theft and drug-related offences.
    • The Bavarian central office for extremism and terrorism has taken over the investigation due to indications that the suspect has an “extremist background”.

    What’s the political context?

    The attack comes at a politically sensitive time, days before Germany’s federal elections, on February 23, and the Munich Security Conference.