‘Allahu Akbar’ Afghan Knifeman Shot Dead by German Police

A 30-year-old Afghan asylum seeker was shot dead in the city of Ansbach, Germany on Thursday after stabbing random people at a railway station, reportedly while yelling “Allahu Akbar!”

The incident took place at around 6 p.m. and saw the attacker, who is said to be an asylum seeker from Afghanistan who arrived in Germany in 2015, attack a 17-year-old young man from behind, grabbing him and falling down a flight of stairs. He is then said to have tried to sit on the teen and stab him with one of the two knives in his possession.

As the teen fought back against the Afghan, another man attempted to come to the aid of the victim. He was also attacked, suffering stab wounds and cutting injuries. The asylum seeker then fled the area, but police caught up with him a short time later, pursuing him until he attempted to approach the officers and was shot three times, German tabloid Bild reports.

Initially, it was speculated that the attack may be related to radical Islamic terrorism, as the phrase “Allahu Akbar!” has been heard in a number of terror attacks in Europe in recent years, but on Friday police claimed that there was so far no known extremist motive for the attack.

Ansbach Criminal Police Inspectorate Criminal Director Dieter Hegwein asserted that investigators believe the Afghan acted alone and the motive for the attack remains unclear.

After coming to Germany in 2015, the Afghan asylum seeker had been accused of at least seven criminal offences, including bodily harm, sexual harassment, and drug offences — but was not deported.

The railway station attack is just one of a number of violent incidents that have taken place in Western Europe in the last month alone involving an attacker yelling “Allahu Akbar”.

In France, for example, a man in the city of Saint-Quentin armed with a shotgun was killed by police after yelling the phrase and firing at officers.

Just days prior, a Moroccan beheaded his own father and carried around his head in a suburb of Lyon, trying to assault police who confronted him while yelling “Allahu Akbar” before he was subdued and arrested.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.