German far-right AfD party says candidate attacked with knife

MANNHEIM

Germany's far-right AfD party on Wednesday said a candidate for local elections was attacked with a knife in Mannheim, a few days after a deadly stabbing at an anti-Islam rally in that city.

Police initially declined to confirm or deny the attack, which could further inflame tensions amid a rash of assaults on politicians in Germany.

"In Mannheim, our local council candidate Heinrich Koch was injured with a knife while confronting people destroying a poster," the AfD's national co-leader Tino Chrupalla said on X, formerly Twitter.

Koch was being treated for his wounds after the incident, which took place on Tuesday, the head of the AfD's branch in the region of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Emil Saenze, told AFP.

Several regions, including Baden-Wuerttemberg, are holding municipal elections on June 9, the same day as elections to the European Parliament.

The incident comes five days after a 25-year-old Afghan man attacked an anti-Islam rally on the market square in Mannheim, killing one and injuring five.

The attack on Friday targeted an event organised by Pax Europa, a campaign group against radical Islam.

Five people attending the rally were injured, including far-right activist and blogger Michael Stuerzenberger.

A 29-year-old policeman who intervened in the incident was stabbed multiple times in the area of the head and died from his wounds on Sunday.

The attacker was shot and wounded by police at the scene. The suspect faces possible charges of murder, attempted murder and five counts of serious bodily harm.

Federal prosecutors are looking into the reasons for Friday's attack.

  Political violence 

"Our members and representatives are the most common victims of political violence," Chrupalla said.

The attacks "cannot stop us", the AfD leader added.

Germany has seen a spate of attacks on politicians from across the political spectrum at work or on the campaign trail ahead of EU elections.

Matthias Ecke, a European Parliament lawmaker for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's SPD party, was set upon last month by a group of youths as he put up election posters in the eastern city of Dresden.

Days later, former Berlin mayor Franziska Giffey was hit on the head and neck with a bag as she visited a library in the capital.

Senior members of the government have also been confronted by angry mobs in recent months, with Economy Minister Robert Habeck blocked from leaving a ferry by a group of protesters.

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier last month warned that Germans "must never get used to violence in the battle of political opinions".

Steinmeier's statement came around the five-year anniversary of the killing of conservative politician Walter Luebcke, who was murdered by neo-nazis in 2019.