On 20 December 2024, an SUV was driven into a crowd at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, killing 6 people and injuring 309 others. The driver of the car, 50-year-old anti-Islam activist Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen, was arrested at the scene. German authorities have described the perpetrator as an Islamophobe. The Federal Prosecutor General classified the attack not as an act of terrorism, but as a rampage. The driver was sentenced to life in prison for six murders, as well as multiple attempted murders and grievous bodily harm, on 26 June 2026.
Magdeburg is the capital of the state of Saxony-Anhalt. The city holds an annual Christmas market near the city hall and a large shopping center.
Christmas markets have previously been targeted by vehicle-ramming attacks, such as the 2016 attack in Berlin. That attack, perpetrated by the Islamic State, killed 12 people and injured 56 others. Minister of the interior and community Nancy Faeser said in November 2024 that there were no "concrete" threats to Christmas markets, but that it was wise to maintain vigilance.
Two weeks prior to the attack, an Iraqi man was arrested on suspicion of planning an attack against a Christmas market in Augsburg, Bavaria.
At 19:04 CET on 20 December 2024, a black BMW rental car, reportedly rented shortly before the attack, was driven into a crowd at high speed at a Christmas market in Magdeburg. The car traveled at least 400 meters (1,300 ft), according to police; the public prosecutor's office would later state that during the attack, which it said had lasted one minute and four seconds, the car had reached a speed of up to 48 kilometers (30 mi) per hour. The driver of the vehicle was arrested at the Allee-Center tram stop.
People who were uninjured helped provide first aid to the injured until emergency services arrived. Others described a chaotic aftermath with "blood on the floor" and people wrapped in emergency blankets to keep them warm. A shopkeeper, who was also a bystander, described the scenes as "reminiscent of a war".
A spokesperson from the Saxony-Anhalt state government said it was "probably an attack". A luggage item was discovered in the passenger seat of the vehicle and police cordoned off the area following suspicions that an explosive device was inside the vehicle. By midnight, an investigation had determined that there were no explosives in the car.
Five people were killed at the time of the attack; they were four women aged between 45 and 75 and nine-year-old André Gleissner. A 52-year-old woman became the sixth fatality after dying from her injuries in January 2025. More than 205 people were injured, including 41 in critical condition. On 3 January 2025, the number of injured was revised by authorities to 299. At Abdulmohsen's trial, 309 injuries were counted.
According to information from the Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff (CDU), the Saxony-Anhalt Interior Minister Tamara Zieschang (CDU), as well as Die Welt and Der Spiegel, the suspect was named as "Taleb A." due to German privacy laws.
Details released by authorities led foreign media outlets to identify Taleb A. as Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen, a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia who lived in Bernburg and worked as a psychologist and psychiatrist in a correctional facility in a clinic in Bernburg. He was described by German authorities as "Islamophobic".
Taleb A. immigrated to Germany in March 2006, was recognized as a refugee in July 2016 and has a settlement permit and thus a residence permit.
According to India Today, Abdulmohsen is wanted by Saudi Arabia on charges related to terrorism and human trafficking of people from Saudi Arabia and Persian Gulf states to the European Union. Despite Saudi Arabia's extradition request, Germany granted him political asylum in 2016, citing concerns over his safety and rights if he were returned to Saudi Arabia. The German government refused to extradite him, citing a lack of due process in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi Arabian government warned German security authorities about Abdulmohsen three times between November 2023 and September 2024.
Saudi officials said he was dangerous and a potential threat to Saudi diplomats. Germany dismissed the warning, viewing it as targeting against a dissident who said he had abandoned Islam which is a capital crime in Saudi Arabia.
Abdulmohsen has been described in media reports as an ex-Muslim opposed to Islam and Muslims.
Der Spiegel reported that he used his web forum wearesaudis.net and Twitter to help other Saudis escape to Germany. Abdulmohsen's X account was focused on anti-Islam themes and criticism of Islam and he congratulated Muslims who left the religion. He also described himself as a former Muslim and criticized German authorities for failing to combat the "Islamism of Europe" and supported the far-right AfD party. He was described as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland and he appeared to be focused on his theory that "German authorities have been targeting Saudi asylum seekers."
Abdulmohsen appeared on the BBC News in 2019, showcasing his website intended to help asylum-seeking apostates, "especially from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region". Abdulmohsen shared pro-Israel content on the Internet.
In a 2019 interview with The Jerusalem Post, he stated that he spent 10 to 16 hours per day assisting apostates from the Middle East to claim asylum in Western countries. In a 45-minute video interview that appeared on an anti-Islam United States blog of the RAIR Foundation eight days before the attack, Abdulmohsen stated that the German state is conducting a "covert secret operation" to "hunt and destroy the lives" of Saudi ex-Muslims around the world, but at the same time Syrian jihadists are receiving asylum in Germany.