A police officer was fatally stabbed in an attack in the centre of Mannheim in May 2024
German security officials say they are carefully examining possible indications of foreign finance or influence in a series of attacks in German cities in the past year.
However, they have reacted coolly to a German TV report suggesting suspicious internet searches were carried out in Russia before a deadly attack in Mannheim last year.
A 26-year-old Afghan man has admitted a knife attack that targeted anti-Islam activist Michael Stürzenberger and killed a police officer in May last year, days before European elections.
A ZDF TV report has now suggested that Russian Google searches days earlier had included “terror attack in Mannheim” and “Michael Stürzenberger stabbed”.
Digital intelligence analyst Steven Broschart told the public broadcaster ZDF’s Terra X History programme that the searches were highly unusual: “it’s pretty unlikely that we’re talking about a coincidence here”.
He spoke of Russian internet searches for webcams in Mannheim’s market square before the May 31 attack took place. —BBC
