SAA event in Berlin area, Germany on Mon 27th July 2026

In Berlin, police shot dead a man suspected of carrying out what authorities said was likely an "Islamist terrorist attack" during Berlin Pride.

Source : BBC , DW with reference to German police

Details : German police said a man was shot dead the day after he allegedly drove a minivan into a crowd of people near a pride parade in Berlin.

Police opened fire when Abdul Ballout, a 21-year-old German citizen of Lebanese origin, attacked them with a knife in Spandau, a western district of Berlin.

This ended a massive search that began after a white van drove into a crowd of people near the Tiergarten park on Saturday evening, shortly before 10 p.m. (local time), killing one woman and injuring at least 29 people.

According to police, several people were injured in a knife attack after the crash.

A statement released by the Berlin prosecutor's office provides additional details about Ballaut's criminal past.

In May 2025, prosecutors said, he traveled via Turkey to Lebanon with the intention of joining the Islamic State (ISIS) group in Syria. While in Lebanon, he allegedly made contact with several individuals he believed were members of ISIS.

In July 2025, he was arrested in Lebanon and sentenced to three months in prison for inciting religious and sectarian conflict.

Then, in November 2025, he returned to Germany, where he was detained at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport.

In May of this year, he was sentenced to one year and 10 months in prison for “preparing a serious act of violence that endangers the state.” The sentence was suspended for 6 months, and he was placed under the supervision of a parole officer.

He was previously convicted of assault and robbery in 2022, as well as for stealing headphones in 2020.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said that the threat level in Germany will be raised after the attack, and other states are also receiving information about this attack and are advised to review their security measures during large events.

On Sunday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited the site of the attack in Tiergarten Park.

He later spoke after a church service commemorating the victims, where he pledged to "defend the freedom and openness of our lives."

"These extremists have no place in our society," he said, adding that Germany would not allow the "poison of terrorism" to affect society.

German media reported that the condition of those injured in the attack is no longer critical.

What preceded it : On the evening of July 25, one person was killed and 16 others were injured in Berlin after a car drove into a crowd during one of Europe's largest LGBT+ events.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said that German investigators are classifying the fatal car attack on Pride marchers in Berlin as an Islamist terrorist attack.