German authorities had classified Berlin attacker Abdul B. as a high-risk case weeks before he killed a woman and injured 31 at the Christopher Street Day parade on July 25, 2026, newly disclosed details show. The 21-year-old’s radicalisation deepened from 2021, the same year the Berlin domestic security office first opened a file on him, records indicate. Surveillance operations monitored his mobile phone and residence for weeks before the attack.
Abdul B., who left school without a diploma, had drawn police attention since 2019 for offences including assault, fraud, robbery and insults. Officials confirmed he had been prevented from travelling to Syria to join Islamic State, a measure also applied to Vienna gunman Kujtim F.
The assault, carried out at the margins of Berlin’s Pride celebration, left seven victims seriously wounded. The case has prompted scrutiny of intelligence failures after it emerged the suspect struck despite years of official awareness.