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friedrich merz
'Heinous Act in Berlin' as Attack on Pride Festival Kills 1, Injures Dozens
"People are trying to divide our society and set some people against others," said a spokesperson for the Christopher Street Day festival. "At the CSD in Berlin, we will not allow this."
Jul 26, 2026
One person was killed and at least 29 others injured on Saturday when a van plowed into a crowd near Berlin's annual LGBTQ+ Pride festival, with the attacker—who wounded some of his victims with a machete after crashing—later shot dead by police, who said he was a suspected Islamic extremist.
The attack occurred Saturday evening during the Christopher Street Day (CSD) celebration—named after where New York's Stonewall Inn is located—following the main parade near the Tiergarten area near the Brandeburg Gate. In what German authorities have officially designated a terrorist attack, police said a 21-year-old German-Lebanese man, identified as Abdul Ballout, drove his van into a crowd before assaulting people with a machete.
One woman, whose identity has not yet been publicly disclosed, was killed.
On Sunday, police located Ballout in the Berlin suburb of Spandau. Police said Ballout was fatally shot as he ran toward officers with a sharp object.
Berlin prosecutors said Ballout traveled to Syria last year while trying to join the so-called Islamic State militant group. According to The Associated Press, Ballout was arrested in Lebanon and sentenced to three months' imprisonment for incitement. He was arrested again upon returning to Germany, where he received a suspended sentence from a juvenile court for publishing pro-Islamic State messages on Instagram and preparing an act of serious violence threatening the state.
During a Sunday press conference, a CSD spokesperson implored people not to use the attack "for political ends."
"People are trying to divide our society and set some people against others," he said. "At the CSD in Berlin, we will not allow this."
However, far-right leaders in Germany and beyond blamed "Islamism." Tino Chrupalla, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany, said on X that “we will not allow religious extremists to divide our country with violence and intolerance."
Numerous X users pushed back, with one saying, "You constantly incite against queer people and are now exploiting the attack for your disgusting incitement!"
Andre Lehmann of LSVD+, Germany's largest LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, said, “We are simply stunned by what happened," adding that the attack "hits the heart of the queer community."
Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner said on social media that the assault was "an attack on our free and open society."
"After a peaceful and colorful CSD, the assembly for a tolerant and peaceful Berlin was attacked in the most brutal way," he continued. "Berlin is the city of freedom—and our freedom has been attacked in the most horrific way today."
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters at a Saturday press conference outside the Marienkirche in central Berlin: "What a heinous act in Berlin. This attack on peaceful Christopher Street Day celebrants is an assault on our open, tolerant society. We will investigate it with utmost severity."
"Our thoughts are with the victims of this Islamist terrorist attack," Merz continued. "I wish those who sustained injuries a swift recovery."
The Christian Democratic Union chancellor thanked first responders for "intervening as quickly as possible, which could well have prevented an even worse outcome last night."
"Let us not be intimidated by these crimes," Merz added. "They want to divide our society, they want to take the most important thing that we have: namely, our open society, our liberal society."
The climate action group Fridays for Future Germany posted on X: "We are devastated. Yesterday's attack on the Berlin CSD was an attack on all of us. Our thoughts are with the victims, their loved ones, and all those who had to witness this attack. Now is the time for solidarity with the queer community."
LGBTQ+ advocates and their allies around the world condemned the attack and offered their condolences and solidarity.
In the Slovakian capital Bratislava, the gay bar Tepláreň—where a far-right extremist teen shot and killed two people in 2022—posted on Instagram: "We are thinking of you, friends in Berlin. It is with great sadness that we are watching the terrible news. We express our deepest condolences to the victims, their loved ones, and everyone who has been affected by these events."
Extremism "is growing dangerously worldwide," the bar added. "People blinded by hate and lies threaten our communities, threatening our chance to coexist in peace."
"Prides are meant to be a place where all can feel safe, welcome, and seen," the rapid response team at the US group Human Rights Campaign said on social media. "We are sending our love to the victims, their families, and the entire city of Berlin today."
People gathered for vigils across Germany and around Europe and the world Sunday to mourn and condemn the attack. In Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate was illuminated in rainbow colors, with the message "Berlin, City of Freedom" projected beneath its Quadriga sculpture, as people took part in a candlelit vigil.
“There was so much joy here yesterday,” Luise V., who attended both CSD and a vigil near the site of the attack, told Berliner Zeitung. “Today I had to face it and come here, also to process what happened."
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'No Truly Convincing Strategy': German Chancellor Says US Being 'Humiliated' by Iran
"The problem with conflicts like this is always: you don't just have to get in, you have to get out again. We saw that very painfully in Afghanistan for 20 years. We saw it in Iraq."
Apr 27, 2026
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday warned that the United States is being "humiliated" by Iran and risks getting trapped in a quagmire there like it did in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"The Iranians are clearly stronger than expected and the Americans clearly have no truly convincing strategy in the negotiations either," Merz told students at the Carolus-Magnus-Gymnasium in Marsberg, North Rhine-Westphalia. "The problem with conflicts like this is always: You don't just have to get in, you have to get out again. We saw that very painfully in Afghanistan for 20 years. We saw it in Iraq."
"At the moment, I do not see what strategic exit the Americans will choose, especially since the Iranians are clearly negotiating very skillfully—or very skillfully not negotiating," the Christian Democratic Union leader continued. "An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, particularly by the so-called Revolutionary Guards."
US President Donald Trump on Saturday abruptly canceled a planned trip by special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to Islamabad, Pakistan to negotiate a ceasefire with Iranian officials after prior talks ended without an agreement.
Nearly two months of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran have killed more than 3,400 people, at least 2,100 of them civilians—including 503 women, 413 children, 91 health workers, and 9 journalists, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said Monday that the death toll from Israeli bombing of its northern neighbor has topped 2,500, including hundreds of women and children. At least 14 people were killed on Sunday by Israeli strikes, despite a US-brokered ceasefire.
The head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society said Saturday that the organization has submitted evidence of US and Israeli war crimes to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which in 2024 issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes—including murder and forced starvation—in Gaza, where more than 250,000 people have been killed or injured since October 2023.
Merz said Monday that the US-Israeli war on Iran is harming his country.
"It is at the moment a pretty tangled situation," he said. "And it is costing us a great deal of money. This conflict, this war against Iran, has a direct impact on our economic output."
Merz said that Germany was still open to deploying minesweeping warships to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has blocked almost all international shipping. However, the chancellor said such a move would only come after fighting stops.
The German leader also told students at the school that their country must assume a greater leadership role within the European Union.
"If we were to unite more effectively and do more together," he said, "we could be at least as strong as the United States of America."
Some observers asserted that the US isn't the only country being humiliated, pointing to Germany's support for Israel, which is rooted in deep-seated guilt over the country's systematic slaughter of 6 million Jews during the Nazi-era Holocaust.
In addition to brutally cracking down on pro-Palestine protests and suppressing speech critical of Israel's obliteration of Gaza, Germany initially planned to intervene in the South Africa-led genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also in The Hague.
However, Berlin said last month that it will not intervene in the ICJ case in support of Israel so that it can better focus on its own defense in a separate case before the tribunal filed by Nicaragua accusing Germany of enabling Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza via arms sales.
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