German police have shot and wounded a man who injured six people in a knife attack on a rightwing demonstration in the south-western city of Mannheim.
Footage showed a bearded man wearing glasses attacking people in the city’s central Marktplatz. One person appeared to be stabbed in the leg and a police officer who tried to intervene appeared to be cut in the neck. Another officer then shot the attacker.
One of those attacked was reported to be Michael Stürzenberger, a German far-right activist and blogger who had been due to speak at the rally organised by Pax Europa, a rightwing group that says it campaigns against the “increasing spread and influence of political Islam”.
Mannheim police said: “A firearm was used against the attacker.” No information was available on his identity or motives and police said they could not yet give details about any injuries among demonstrators in the square.
A livestream broadcast from central Mannheim showed Stürzenberger preparing to address a small crowd at the event.
One of his colleagues told Bild newspaper the activist had been stabbed in the face and leg.
The injured police officer underwent an emergency operation, Bild reported.
Several hours later, authorities said they could not yet give information on the severity of the injuries. They also said the assailant’s identity hadnot yet been established.
The violence comes in the final stretch of a European parliament campaign in which the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has campaigned partly on what it says is the danger posed by migration from Muslim countries.
The federal interior minister, Nancy Faeser, a member of the Social Democratic party, said: “If investigations show an Islamist motive behind the attack, that would be yet another confirmation of the great danger posed by Islamist violence, which we have been warning about.”
The chancellor, Olaf Scholz, posted on X: “The attacker must be punished severely.”
Stürzenberger, 59, who describes himself as an Islam-critical journalist, has been a member of several far-right anti-Islam organisations including the Pegida movement, which holds regular marches, especially in eastern Germany.
