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christmas massacre

Saudi doctor who carried out Magdeburg market attack was ex-Muslim who praised far-right

by DD Staff

December 21, 2024

Pic: Collected

key takeaways

“After 25 years in this ‘business’ you think nothing could surprise you anymore”

It has come to light that the Saudi physician who crashed his BMW into a German Christmas market, killing at least five people and injuring hundreds more, was a self-described "former Muslim."

Before Friday's horrific attack in Magdeburg, Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a 50-year-old specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy, had been residing in Germany for 20 years.

He was taken into custody at the scene of the verified deaths of four adults and a nine-year-old child.

At least 205 people have also been injured during the massacre, when the car rammed into massive crowd of shoppers at around 7pm.

An X account linked to al-Abdulmohsen consists of tweets and retweets focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticism of the religion.

While also describing himself as a former Muslim, he sharing congratulatory notes to other Muslims who had left the faith.

He also criticised German authorities, claimed they had failed to stop the “Islamism of Europe.”

He has also voiced support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

While he has been described as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland, he appeared to focus on his theory recently that German authorities have been targeting Saudi asylum seekers.

Prominent German terrorism expert Peter Neumann posted on X that he had yet to come across a suspect in an act of mass violence with that profile.

Neumann wrote: “After 25 years in this ‘business’ you think nothing could surprise you anymore.

“But a 50-year-old Saudi ex-Muslim who lives in East Germany, loves the AfD and wants to punish Germany for its tolerance towards Islamists — that really wasn’t on my radar."