MANNHEIM: Six people were wounded in a knife attack at a far-right rally in Germany on Friday. The wounded included a prominent critic of Islam, drawing immediate condemnation from the nation’s leaders.

The attack, just days before EU-wide elections, comes amid a spike of politically motivated violence in Germany.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser raised the possibility that the assault could have been “Islamist motivated”.

A man with a knife attacked and wounded several people on a market square in Mannheim, south-western Germany, at around 11.35am (0935 GMT), police said in a statement.

Five of those wounded were taking part in a rally organised by Pax Europa, a campaign group against `radical Islam’, police said. A police official who intervened was also stabbed several times in the back of the head, it said. Another policeman fired at the attacker and wounded him.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2024