What we know about the suspect in the Christmas market attack in Germany

While Germany mourns the death of at least five people after a A vehicle deliberately rammed into a crowded Christmas marketAuthorities are working to understand the suspect behind the attack.

Authorities said the suspect — identified by local media as student A. The 50-year-old has been living and working as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist in Germany for two decades.

The student, originally from Saudi Arabia, arrived in Germany in 2006 and was recognized as a refugee in 2016, CBS News Partner. BBC reported. He worked at Salus-Fachklinikum Bernburg, a specialist clinic in Bernburg, about 25 miles south of Magdeburg.

in Instagram share The clinic said on Saturday that it was “shocked to learn that the alleged perpetrator worked as a specialist doctor in our app in Bernburg.” She added that Talib had worked at the company since March 2020, but had not been on duty since October 2024 due to illness and vacation.

He added: “We have been supporting the work of the investigating authorities in every possible way since the late hours,” and they are “stunned and shocked by the horrific attack.”

A Saudi source said Reuters Saudi Arabia warned the German authorities against the attacker after he published extremist views on his personal account that threatened peace and security.

Talib He also described himself as a former Muslim.

He criticized the German authorities, saying they had failed to do enough to combat “Islamism in Europe.”

He also expressed his support for the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party.

German newspaper FAZ She said she interviewed the suspect in 2019 and described him as an anti-Islam activist.

He was quoted as saying: “People like me, who have an Islamic background but are no longer believers, are not met with understanding or tolerance by Muslims here.” “I am one of the harshest critics of Islam in history. If you don’t believe me, ask the Arabs.”

Leading German terrorism expert Peter Neumann posted on X that he had not yet encountered a suspect in an act of mass violence with this profile.

“After 25 years in this ‘business’ you think nothing can surprise you anymore,” wrote Neumann, the terrorism expert. But a 50-year-old former Saudi Muslim who lives in East Germany loves the AfD and wants to punish Germany. “. “For her tolerance towards Islamists – that was really not on my radar.”

Some described Talib as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland. More recently, he seemed to be focusing on his theory that German authorities were targeting Saudi asylum seekers.

On Saturday, German Interior Minister Nancy Weiser told reporters: “At this stage, we can only say with certainty that the perpetrator was clearly Islamophobic – we can confirm that. Everything else is subject to further investigation and we will have to wait.” “.

A German-based organization called Atheist Refugee Relief said the alleged attacker was not part of the group, and claimed he had made “numerous accusations and allegations” against it and former board members, which it said were false.

“We distance ourselves from him in the strongest terms,” the group said in a statement on its website, adding that members of the Atheist Refugee Relief Organization filed a criminal complaint against him in 2019 after “the most severe defamation and verbal attacks.”

A student was arrested on the scene after he rammed a black BMW into a Christmas market crowded with shoppers on Friday evening in Magdeburg, killing at least five people and injuring about 200 others.