LAST UPDATE | 31 May

AN ATTACKER WITH a knife has wounded several people in a square in the south-western German city of Mannheim. Police shot at the attacker, who also was hurt.

Officers said the incident happened shortly after 11.30am today local-time. 

They said that they could not immediately give any information on the severity of the injuries or specify exactly how many people were hurt. The victims included a police officer.

A spokesperson said that there was no longer any danger to the public.

The incident happened on the Marktplatz, a square in the centre of the city of about 300,000 people, which is located south of Frankfurt.

German media reported that one of the victims of the assault, which took place just days before EU-wide elections, was a prominent Islam critic.

“The extent and severity of the injuries are not yet known,” the police said, adding that there was no further danger to the public.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “The images from Mannheim are terrible. 

“Violence is absolutely unacceptable in our democracy. The perpetrator must be severely punished.”

According to several media reports, one of the victims was Michael Stuerzenberger, a German far-right activist and blogger.

Stuerzenberger had been due to speak at a rally in Mannheim earlier today organised by Pax Europa, a campaign group against radical Islam.

The group said on its website that Stuerzenberger and several Pax Europa volunteers were injured in a knife attack at the rally.

Stuerzenberger suffered serious stab wounds to his face and also to his leg, while a police officer was also stabbed in the back and neck, the group said.

Stuerzenberger has been a prominent anti-Islam campaigner in Germany for several years.

Pax Europa has been classed as Islamophobic by Bavarian security services, which have also accused Stuerzenberger of making “Islamophobic statements”.

Germany has seen a spate of attacks on politicians at work or on the campaign trail in the run-up to the EU elections on 9 June.

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier last week said he was worried by the growing trend and Germans “must never get used to violence in the battle of political opinions”.

With reporting from AFP.