German prosecutors point to Islamist motive in knife attack on truck driver over weekend

BERLIN, 11 Sep. (DPA/EP) –

The German public prosecutor’s office has pointed to a possible Islamist motive in the knife attack carried out this past weekend against a truck driver on a service road in Hennigsdorf, located northwest of the German capital, Berlin.

Witnesses interviewed by DPA said the attacker shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) before stabbing the truck driver. Witnesses also point to the attacker’s possible foreign origin.

The victim was injured and had to be admitted to hospital, although he has since been discharged, while the attacker was arrested and brought before a judge.

Several members of the youth wing of the conservative German CDU/CSU party were in the area at the time of the incident and have issued a statement saying that the attacker shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ and criticising the fact that the first reports of the incident did not mention this shout.