Threatened terror

Automatically stored draft

Commemorating the victims of the Magdeburg attack

(Bild: AFP/Ralf Hirschberger)

Germany's security authorities have dealt with the suspected Magdeburg attacker more often than previously known. A chronology lists a total of 110 incidents. The data has now been submitted by the federal and state authorities to the Federal Criminal Police Office.

Almost four weeks after the death drive in Magdeburg, it is becoming increasingly clear how regularly the responsible authorities were involved with the later suspected assassin over the years. At the end of December, the Committee on Internal Affairs reported 80 incidents, but the number has now risen to 110.

The ministry paper shows, for example, that Saudi Arabian authorities contacted the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution on November 27, 2023. They reported a posting by their citizen Taleb A. on his X account. The suspect wrote that something big was going to happen in Germany. However, the German authorities assessed Taleb A.'s message as an "unspecific threat due to a lack of concrete evidence" and asked for further clues, should any follow.

In memory of the victims of the attack in Magdeburg

(Bild: AFP/Ralf Hirschberger)

Taleb A.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/APA, TikTok)

Politicians at the scene of the crime

(Bild: APA/dpa/Sebastian Kahnert)

A police officer at the cordoned-off Christmas market

(Bild: APA/AFP/John MACDOUGALL)

Already threatening a terrorist attack
Two months before the psychiatrist's attack, Germany's constitutional protection officers received another letter from Saudi Arabia. They recalled their communication from November 2023 and asked for information on what measures had been taken. This letter was forwarded to the Federal Intelligence Service (BND).

The now 50-year-old repeatedly attracted the attention of the authorities with massive threats of violence. In April 2013, A. argued with the medical association about his admission to the specialist examination and threatened to carry out a terrorist attack. At the time, he was sentenced to a fine of 900 euros. He also threatened to take revenge on a Saudi Arabian ambassador and to shoot two judges who had treated him unfairly.

Made confused accusations
In 2017, he allegedly kissed a woman against her will and sat her on his lap. He appeared in public as an activist who wanted to help women flee Saudi Arabia. The accusations he made against his supposed opponents and German authorities were sometimes confusing. They included espionage and violation of the secrecy of correspondence.

In total, at least six federal states and federal authorities were involved with Taleb A.. These include Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, North Rhine-Westphalia, Berlin, Hamburg and Bavaria. Information about possible criminal offenses also came from Great Britain and Kuwait. More than a dozen investigations were underway against the alleged perpetrator in the years leading up to the attack, most of which were dropped (see video above).

Faeser: "No common grid"
The perpetrator does not fit into any common grid, said Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. Taleb A.'s hatred of Germany is said to stem from hatred of his home country. He is a supporter of conspiracy theories about the "Islamization" of Germany.  

The perpetrator does not fit any conventional mold.

Deutschlands Innenministerin Nancy Faeser

"The investigation into the terrible attack in Magdeburg is still in its infancy. Now that the chronology has been presented, we have more rather than fewer questions," said Green MP Konstantin von Notz. A committee of inquiry is now to look into these questions. "Why the dangerousness of the perpetrator was not recognized as things stand today - despite numerous indications", for example, must be clarified.

As reported, Taleb A. allegedly crashed a car into the Christmas market in Magdeburg on December 20, 2024. Six people lost their lives and 300 were injured. He is in prison.