Media: Magdeburg terrorist left will before deadly Christmas market attack

Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, the man responsible for running over pedestrians at a Christmas market in Magdeburg on December 20, left behind a will.

The will was discovered in a BMW, which al-Abdulmohsen used to carry out the attack, Caliber.Az reports referencing Der Spiegel newspaper.

He had rented the car more than a week before the incident, suggesting he may have been planning his actions in advance.

There were no political statements in the will, but it appears that al-Abdulmohsen was preparing for his death. His tragic rampage left five people dead, including a nine-year-old child, Andre Gleissner, and injured 235 others. Many of the victims were traumatized by the horrific attack.

The terrorist, a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia, has been arrested. Investigations revealed that he was under the influence of drugs at the time of the attack.

Al-Abdulmohsen had lived in Germany since 2006, arriving as a refugee. He worked as a correctional psychologist and psychiatrist at a clinic in Bernburg, a town in Saxony-Anhalt. He had been granted asylum in 2016 and had a valid residence permit. Despite initially being grateful for his new life in Germany, recent years saw al-Abdulmohsen becoming increasingly disillusioned with the country and its immigration policies.

In 2015, Germany took in more than a million refugees, but since then, the country has tightened its borders. Authorities are now investigating al-Abdulmohsen’s dissatisfaction with how refugees are treated in Germany. However, the exact motives for his attack remain unclear, and authorities are still piecing together his radicalization.

On social media, al-Abdulmohsen openly renounced his Islamic faith and expressed support for far-right ideologies. He voiced his anger at Germany’s treatment of refugees and accused the country of promoting the “Islamization” of Europe. In May of this year, he posted a chilling message to his nearly 50,000 followers on X (formerly Twitter), saying, “German terrorism will be brought to justice. It’s very likely that I will die this year in order to bring justice.”

He repeated similar sentiments in August, stating, “I assure you that if Germany wants a war, we will fight it. If Germany wants to kill us, we will slaughter them, die, or go to prison with pride.”

Saudi authorities had warned German officials about al-Abdulmohsen’s extremist views several times over the years. According to sources with knowledge of the communications, the first warning came in 2007, when Saudi officials flagged al-Abdulmohsen’s radical views. Saudi Arabia had even requested his extradition from Germany between 2007 and 2008, but the request was denied due to concerns over his safety.

A second source revealed that Saudi authorities sent Germany four official notifications about al-Abdulmohsen, including three to the German intelligence services and one to the foreign ministry. Despite these warnings, German authorities took no action to investigate or prevent his growing radicalization.

The attack in Magdeburg has left the country shaken, with many questioning how someone with such a troubled background could carry out such a devastating act of violence. Investigations into the motives and history of Taleb al-Abdulmohsen are ongoing as authorities seek to understand how he was able to carry out his deadly attack.

By Tamilla Hasanova