An IMGW News Report
Updated | 15th February at 23.00hrs:
A 37-year-old mother and her two-year-old daughter have died from injuries sustained in Thursday’s car-ramming attack in Munich, German police have confirmed.
At least 37 people were injured when a car plowed into a crowd at a trade union rally.
The driver, identified by local media as 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker Farhad N., remains in custody, police said.
The attack injured at least 36 people. The public prosecutor’s office assumes an Islamist motive.
“𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒘𝒇𝒖𝒍,” 𝑮𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒓 𝑶𝒍𝒂𝒇 𝑺𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒛 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔. “𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘, 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓: 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒚. 𝑯𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚.”
Munich, 13th February – A suspected car-ramming attack in the Bavarian capital has thrust migration back into the spotlight as Germany heads into a pivotal parliamentary election in ten days. The accused, 24-year-old Farhad N, arrived from Afghanistan in 2016 seeking asylum. Though his application was rejected, he was granted temporary leave to remain. His alleged involvement in Wednesday’s attack will undoubtedly fuel an already fevered debate over immigration policy and security.
Germany’s political discourse has been dominated by migration in the lead-up to the vote, triggered by the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition. A string of violent incidents linked to asylum seekers has bolstered the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), which now polls at over 20%.
The attack in Munich follows a series of high-profile incidents that have intensified public concerns. In December, a Saudi asylum seeker drove into a Christmas market in Magdeburg, killing six and injuring nearly 300. AfD leaders swiftly capitalised on the tragedy, blaming the government’s migration policies. Calls for calm from mainstream politicians gave way to harder rhetoric in January after an Afghan asylum seeker fatally stabbed a toddler and a passer-by in Aschaffenburg.
The political fallout has been swift. In a televised debate, Scholz of the Social Democrats (SPD) and his conservative challenger Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democrats (CDU) spent the first 30 minutes addressing migration, each vying to appear tougher on irregular border crossings. Both faced criticism for framing migration solely as a security threat.
Merz, the election frontrunner, has proposed closing Germany’s borders to asylum seekers entirely—a move critics argue is unworkable and violates EU and constitutional law. Others warn that such rhetoric risks legitimising the AfD’s nationalist platform and alienating Germany’s migrant communities.
With just days to go before voters head to the polls, the Munich attack has added fresh urgency to the migration debate. While the focus remains on those injured and their families, the political implications are impossible to ignore. Migration, already central to this election, now seems set to dominate its final stretch.
If you wish to read more about Germany’s election and how this affects migration, we recommend you check the following recent IMGW News reports:
- Germany’s Next Chancellor Candidate Calls for Tougher Border Controls
- Protests Stall Vote on Germany’s Strict Migration Bill
