28 injured as car ploughs into demonstrators in Munich

At least 28 people were hurt when a car driven by an Afghan asylum seeker ploughed into a crowd in Munich on Thursday in what the state premier said was probably an attack, putting security back in focus before next week’s federal election. The suspected attack came hours before international leaders including US Vice-President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were due to arrive in the southern German city for the Munich Security Conference. Officers detained the driver. They said his motive was unclear. “It was probably an attack,” Bavaria state premier Markus Soeder said.

Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann said the suspect had been known to police for drug and shoplifting offences. His asylum application had been rejected, said Herrmann, but he had not been forced to leave due to security concerns in Afghanistan.

Immigration and security issues have dominated campaigning ahead of the February 23 election, 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 Magdeburg and last month a toddler and adult were killed in a knife attack in the Bavarian town of Aschaffenburg. Immigrants have been arrested over both attacks.

Conservative Friedrich Merz, 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.