Germany Terror Attack Near Berlin Pride Leaves One Dead and 29 Injured

German authorities are searching for 21-year-old Abdul Ballout after a Germany terror attack near Berlin’s Pride festival that killed one woman and injured 29 others, which Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt described as an Islamist terror attack. [1][2]

Attack Details and Casualties

A white van drove into a crowd in Tiergarten park around 10 p.m. Saturday, crashed into a tree, and the suspect then allegedly attacked people with a machete. [1][2] One woman died, three suffered life-threatening injuries, eight were seriously hurt and others sustained slight injuries. [1][5] The attack occurred a few hundred yards from the Christopher Street Day Pride closing party near the Brandenburg Gate but not on the parade route. [2][5] Victims included both Pride attendees and others in the park, prompting immediate cancellation of the event. [2] Berlin’s fire service reported three people with life-threatening injuries, another eight seriously injured and five with slight injuries. [1] Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt put the total number of injured at 29. [1][2] The closing party at the Pride festival was ongoing at the time next to the Brandenburg Gate when the white van hit several people before colliding with a tree. [1][5]

Suspect Identification and Background

White van crashed into tree in Tiergarten park after driving into crowd near Berlin Pride. — Source: foxnews Abdul Ballout, a German citizen of Lebanese roots, is known to police for prior crimes, radicalization and membership in Berlin’s Islamist scene. [1][2] He received a suspended sentence of one year and 10 months in May for preparing a serious act of subversive violence after a failed attempt to join Islamic State. [5] German media reported that the conviction for preparing a serious act of subversive violence dated from this May and followed a trip Ballout made last year to the Middle East in a failed attempt to join IS. [5] Dobrindt said Ballout was born in Germany and that his mother became a naturalized German citizen in 2002, three years before he was born. [2] The minister said the suspect had previously come to the attention of authorities for multiple crimes, as well as his radicalization and belonging to the Islamist scene. [2][5]

Ongoing Manhunt

Police conducted searches including at an apartment in Schöneberg but have not located the suspect, who is described as thin, about 1.9 meters tall with black hair, last seen in a black hoodie and white trousers. [1][2][5] Alerts have been issued at borders, airports and train stations. [5] Police searched several locations across Berlin overnight and into Sunday, including an apartment in the Schöneberg district, but did not find the suspect. [2] Dobrindt said that officers at train stations, airports and Germany's borders had been alerted to be on the lookout for Ballout. [5] The manhunt is ongoing as authorities warned people against approaching the suspect, saying that he might be armed and dangerous. [1]

Official Statements on Islamist Terror Link

Interior Minister Dobrindt’s assessment that the incident is an Islamist terror attack and the police spokesman’s comments on the suspect’s known associations without confirmed motive form the core of official statements. [1][2][3] “Everything we see here points to us dealing with an Islamic terror attack,” German Minister of the Interior Alexander Dobrindt said. [1][2] Police spokesman Florian Nath said the suspect is known to police as a member of Islamic circles here in Berlin, and the search for this person is proceeding at full speed. [1][2] Nath added that investigators had no information on his specific motives. [1][2] “Everything we see here indicates that this was an Islamist terror attack,” Dobrindt said. [5] Police had said earlier that they had identified a suspect who has ties to Islamic groups in the German capital. [1]

Reactions from German and Norwegian Leaders

Chancellor Friedrich Merz appealed to those targeted by the attack to not let yourselves be intimidated. [5] Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide condemned the attack, linking it to prior trauma from the 2022 Oslo Pride shooting and expressing solidarity with Germany against extremism. [4][5] Støre wrote that many in the skeive miljøet know once again fear and anger, and that no one should have to be afraid to be themselves. [4] Eide stated he is deeply shaken over the attack that hit people celebrating diversity and love. [4] The flag at the German Bundestag was ordered to be lowered to half-mast. [5] In a vigil on Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people packed out the square in front of the Brandenburg Gate holding rainbow flags and flowers. [5]

Context of Prior Attacks in Germany

The incident revives memories of earlier vehicle attacks in Berlin and Magdeburg. [5] The deadliest attack in recent years was a truck rampage at a Berlin Christmas market in December 2016 by a Tunisian man with jihadist motives that killed 13 people. [5] The run-up to last year's general election saw a spate of attacks in public places, including by attackers with Islamist motives. [5] The worst incident in that period saw a Saudi psychiatrist and anti-Islam activist, Taleb Jawad al-Abdulmohsen, kill six people and wound more than 300 in a car-ramming at a busy Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg in 2024. [5]

What to watch next: Police continue the manhunt for Abdul Ballout with alerts active at borders, airports and train stations as authorities search additional locations.