The suspect in the terror attack which struck the Berlin Pride Parade on Saturday evening has been identified as 21-year-old Abdul Ballut, who was previously detained in Germany on terror offences, reportedly including the support of the so-called Islamic State.
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The suspect in the terror attack, which struck the Berlin Pride Parade on Saturday evening, has been identified as 21-year-old ‘Abdul B.’, who was previously detained in Germany on terror offences, reportedly including the support of the so-called Islamic State.
UPDATE 13:40: German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Sunday morning that at least one person was killed and 29 people were injured, some seriously, in what he said is believed to have been an “Islamist terror attack” at the Berlin Pride Parade on Saturday evening. Dobrindt said the suspect was born in Germany but is of Lebanese descent, with his mother naturalised in the country in 2002. He also confirmed that the alleged terrorist had also attacked revellers with a bladed weapon, thought to be a machete. The manhunt continues.
The original story continues as follows…
Tragedy struck the annual Christopher Street Day event in the German capital, one of the largest LGBTQ pride parades in Europe, with a white van being driven into a crowd in the Tiergarten area of the city at around 10 pm, leaving at least one dead and 29 injured.
Berlin Police identified “Abdul B.” as their main suspect, releasing a picture of the 21-year-old as they conduct a large-scale manhunt. The force said that there may be more suspects yet to be identified. A spokesman earlier revealed that the suspect was known to police as an “Islamist”.
It has been reported that the suspect may still be armed, with some witnesses claiming that he was carrying a machete as he fled the scene.
The Bild newspaper identified the suspect as “Abdul Ballut”, who they reported was born in Germany but came from a Lebanese family. The paper further reported that his apartment was located just a few hundred meters from the site of the terror attack on Saturday evening.
German paper of record Die Welt reported that Abdul was previously identified as a threat by police and had been in juvenile detention as recently as May for having attempted to incite or threaten a terror attack. He was also said to have claimed to have contacts with the ISIS terror network.
After being released in May, Abdul was reportedly put on probation and was instructed to attend de-radicalisation counselling sessions, the third of which was scheduled for Monday.
While it is yet to be confirmed that he was a supporter of the so-called Islamic State, Die Welt noted that the U.S. State Department had specifically warned in 2024 that ISIS had called on supporters to attack Pride events in Europe.
Vehicle terror attacks have previously been used by jihadists in Berlin, including the Christmas market attack in 2016, carried out by a Tunisian asylum seeker, who stole a truck and rammed it into a crowd of revellers, killing 13 and injuring around 70.
Despite authorities consistently noting that Islamist terrorism remains the largest threat in Europe, organisers of the Christopher Street Day Pride Parade event had complained earlier this week that they felt “afraid” over the rising popularity of the anti-mass migration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
This is despite the populist party being led by Alice Weidel, who is in a homosexual relationship with a woman from Sri Lanka. Following the suspected Islamist attack, Weidel said that her “thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones.”
