German Police Officer Dies After Being Stabbed by Afghan Immigrant

German police officers commemorate a colleague in Mannheim Germany, after learning that a police officer, who was stabbed two days ago there, has died on June 2, 2024. (AP)
German police officers commemorate a colleague in Mannheim Germany, after learning that a police officer, who was stabbed two days ago there, has died on June 2, 2024. (AP)
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German Police Officer Dies After Being Stabbed by Afghan Immigrant

German police officers commemorate a colleague in Mannheim Germany, after learning that a police officer, who was stabbed two days ago there, has died on June 2, 2024. (AP)
German police officers commemorate a colleague in Mannheim Germany, after learning that a police officer, who was stabbed two days ago there, has died on June 2, 2024. (AP)

A German police officer, who was stabbed in the neck two days ago by an Afghan immigrant at a right-wing demonstration in Mannheim, has succumbed to his injuries.

“A German police officer died of his injuries after being stabbed several times while trying to pull somebody clear of a knife attack on Friday,” according to the Federal Public Prosecution Office, which is investigating the stabbing.

The 29-year-old officer was the only person who died during the knife attack that left five other people injured in the central square of Mannheim.

The attack took place during an anti-Islamist protest led by Michael Sturzenberger, who was the main target of the attack and among those wounded.

A livestream broadcast from central Mannheim on Friday had shown Stuerzenberger preparing to address a small crowd at an event by the Pax Europa Movement.

The suspect was shot by police and he was alive but in the hospital. He is in no fit state to be interrogated, and therefore, his motives and the reason for his attack required further investigation. The suspect had no criminal record and had not come to law enforcement's attention in the past.

The attack caused a wave of widespread condemnations across Germany and again opened a debate about the danger posed by extremists in the country.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser stressed that anyone glorifying such acts of violence must face the full severity of criminal law, underscoring the government’s commitment to pursuing these matters vigorously.

The Green Party’s responses included statements from Ricarda Lang, who said: “Islamism is the enemy of a free society. And it must be treated as such and must be combated, in terms of security policy and society as a whole. There can be no excuses, no justification.”

Lang then called for the closure of the Islamic Center of Hamburg which she said is controlled from Tehran.

Last year, Germany's federal police had raided the Center on suspicions of support for Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which is accused of terrorism.

According to Lang, the center should have been closed long ago. “I still can't understand why it is still open,” she said.



Russia: Hypersonic Missile Strike on Ukraine Was a Warning to 'Reckless' West

Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a televised address, dedicated to a military conflict in Ukraine and in particular to Russia's launch of a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile attack on a military facility in response to recent Ukrainian long-range strikes with Western weapons, in Moscow, Russia November 21, 2024. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS
Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a televised address, dedicated to a military conflict in Ukraine and in particular to Russia's launch of a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile attack on a military facility in response to recent Ukrainian long-range strikes with Western weapons, in Moscow, Russia November 21, 2024. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS
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Russia: Hypersonic Missile Strike on Ukraine Was a Warning to 'Reckless' West

Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a televised address, dedicated to a military conflict in Ukraine and in particular to Russia's launch of a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile attack on a military facility in response to recent Ukrainian long-range strikes with Western weapons, in Moscow, Russia November 21, 2024. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS
Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a televised address, dedicated to a military conflict in Ukraine and in particular to Russia's launch of a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile attack on a military facility in response to recent Ukrainian long-range strikes with Western weapons, in Moscow, Russia November 21, 2024. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS

The Kremlin said on Friday that a strike on Ukraine using a newly developed hypersonic ballistic missile was designed as a message to the West that Moscow will respond to their "reckless" decisions and actions in support of Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was speaking a day after President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had fired the new missile - the Oreshnik or Hazel Tree - at a Ukrainian military facility.
"The main message is that the reckless decisions and actions of Western countries that produce missiles, supply them to Ukraine and subsequently participate in strikes on Russian territory cannot remain without a reaction from the Russian side," Peskov told reporters.
"The Russian side has clearly demonstrated its capabilities, and the contours of further retaliatory actions in the event that our concerns are not taken into account have been quite clearly outlined,” Reuters quoted him as saying.
Peskov said Russia had not been obliged to warn the United States about the strike, but had informed the US 30 minutes before the launch anyway.
President Vladimir Putin remained open to dialogue, Peskov said, but he said the outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden "prefers to continue down the path of escalation".
Putin said on Thursday that Russia had fired the new missile after Ukraine, with approval from the Biden administration, struck Russia with six US-made ATACMS missiles on Tuesday and with British Storm Shadow cruise missiles and US-made HIMARS on Thursday.
He said this meant that the Ukraine war had now "acquired elements of a global character".
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Russia's use of the new missile amounted to "a clear and severe escalation" in the war and called for strong worldwide condemnation.