German Chancellor Scholz visits Magdeburg After Christmas market attack that left five dead and over 200 injured
He pledged that Germany would respond"with the full force of the law" to the attack but also called for unity as Germany has been rocked by a heated debate on immigration and security as it heads towards elections in February. As Germany was reeling from the shocking attack, which came eight years after a jihadist strike on a Berlin Christmas market claimed 13 lives, more details emerged about the Saudi man under arrest.
The Bild daily reported that an initial drug test had proved positive, after police officers on Friday used a test kit that can detect narcotics ranging from cannabis to cocaine and methamphetamines.Surveillance video of the attack showed a black BMW driving at high speed straight through a dense crowd, running over or scattering bodies amid the festive stalls selling snacks, handicrafts and traditional mulled wine.
The leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany , Alice Weidel, which has focused on jihadist attacks in its campaign against immigrants, wrote on X:"When will this madness stop?"