Syrian Asylum Seeker Arrested After Tourist Stabbed Near Berlin Holocaust Memorial: Report

An asylum seeker from Syria is reportedly suspected of stabbing a Spanish tourist near the Holocaust memorial in Berlin, Germany, on Friday evening.

In the latest apparent Islamist attack in Germany, a 30-year-old tourist from Spain was stabbed in the neck at around 6 pm in between the Holocaust memorial and the U.S. embassy in the Mitte district of Berlin.

According to a report from the German daily Bild, the suspected perpetrator has been identified as “Wassim al M.” His full name is withheld according to the country’s privacy laws.

The alleged attacker is believed to be a 19-year-old asylum seeker from Syria who lives in state-provided accommodation for refugees in the city of Leipzig.

The Syrian national was reportedly arrested shortly after the attack with blood on his hands and in possession of a blood-stained knife.

According to the report, investigators are treating the attack as a “politically motivated crime”.

German broadcaster NTV reports that the suspect did not have any identity documents upon his arrest and was “scantily clad”.

The broadcaster said that the State Criminal Police Office 8, responsible for handling Islamic terrorism cases, has been brought into the investigation. However, police have yet to confirm that the attack was motivated by radical Islam.

The 30-year-old Spanish victim is reportedly in stable condition after receiving an emergency operation.

The attack came just two days before German voters are set to head to the polls on Sunday in crucial federal elections, in which the issue of mass migration and Islamic terrorism have been a central focal point.

Over the past year, Germany has been rocked by several high-profile attacks allegedly committed by migrants and asylum seekers, including in Mannheim, Solingen, Magdeburg, Aschaffenburg, and most recently in Munich the day before world leaders descended upon the city for the Munich Security Conference earlier this month.

Earlier this week, an 18-year-old migrant from the heavily Islamic Russian republic of Chechnya was arrested and charged over an alleged plot to attack the Israeli embassy in Berlin.

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