Officials claim German law enforcement monitored Christmas market assault suspect for years
Date
12/26/2024 7:39:37 AM
(MENAFN) The suspect in the deadly attack at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, was known to German authorities and counterterrorism agencies for several years prior to the incident, according to local media reports. Taleb al Abdulmohsen, a Saudi national, had been flagged by law enforcement as a potential threat since 2015, when he was reported to the Joint Counter-Terrorism Center due to threats made against a regional medical association and welfare office.
In September 2023, a female informant alerted Police in Saxony-Anhalt to Abdulmohsen's potentially violent intentions, describing the situation as "very urgent." However, authorities did not take immediate action. The suspect underwent two threat assessments in 2023 and 2024, and the police also conducted interviews with him in September 2023 and October 2024. These interviews, designed to warn potential perpetrators that they were being monitored, did not prevent the attack.
The investigation into Abdulmohsen was triggered by a post he made on social media in December 2023, but the police could not locate him to further investigate. On December 22, Abdulmohsen allegedly drove his car into a crowd at the Magdeburg Christmas market, killing at least five people, including a child, and injuring over 200 others. He was arrested at the scene. Authorities also confirmed that Saudi Arabia had warned Germany about Abdulmohsen about a year ago, though the specifics of the warning remain unclear.
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