‘We must take back our cities’: Protesters in Germany seek mass deportations after Christmas market attack by Saudi man

Far-right protesters in Germany called for mass deportations on Saturday night amid outrage over a recent attack. Five people were killed and several dozen more were injured earlier this week after a car ploughed into a busy Christmas market. The suspect — identified as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen from Saudi Arabia — remains in custody over multiple charges of murder.

Police told Reuters that there were scuffles and some "minor disturbances" on Saturday night as approximately 2,100 people joined a protest in Magdeburg. The agitators — some of whom wore black balaclavas — held up large banners with the phrase ‘Reimigration Now’ and brandished ‘homeland flags’ to underscore their point.

The term is popular with supporters of the far right who seek the mass deportation of immigrants and people deemed not ethnically German.

German tabloid Bild noted that the protesters had marched through Magdeburg shouting that “anyone who doesn't love Germany should leave” the country. They also insisted that “migration kills” and stressed the need to “take back our cities, our villages and our homeland”.

The suspect is a 50-year-old psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia with a history of anti-Islamic rhetoric who has lived in Germany for almost two decades. The motive for the attack remained unclear.

Authorities said the suspected attacker used emergency exit points to drive onto the grounds of the Christmas market, where he picked up speed and ploughed into the crowds, hitting more than 200 people in a three-minute attack. He was arrested at the scene.

According to a police statement, a magistrate has ordered the suspect into pretrial custody on charges of murder on five counts as well as multiple counts of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm. The list of victims included a nine year old boy as well as four women aged between 45 and 45. Among the wounded, around 40 had serious or critical injuries.

(With inputs from agencies)