two dead, including a 2-year-old child, during a knife attack in a park in Bavaria

Two people, including a child, were killed Wednesday during a knife attack in a park in Aschaffenburg, southern Germany, local police announced, announcing that they had apprehended a suspect.

The attack, the motives of which are not known at this stage, occurred “around 11:45 a.m. in Schöntal Park, causing the death of two people”a 41-year-old man and a 2-year-old boy, the police said on his X account. The suspect apprehended is a 28-year-old Afghan, she added.

Two other people “seriously injured” are currently being treated in hospital. The investigation is taking place “at a steady pace”said the police, refusing to “speculate” on the motives for the attack. The suspect was arrested near the park which was evacuated and the premises remain cordoned off by the police, she said.

Germany shaken by several attacks

Germany has been rocked by several knife attacks in recent months. Security issues are very present in the campaign for the legislative elections on February 23.

The country was particularly shocked by an attack in Solingen (west of the country) where the alleged perpetrator, a Syrian suspected of links with the Islamic State (IS) organization, stabbed three people to death during local festivities at the end of August.

In June, a knife attack targeting an anti-Islam rally in Mannheim (west of the country) left one dead, a young police officer who intervened. The alleged attacker was an Afghan national.

The German government subsequently banned the carrying of bladed weapons in popular gatherings and in long-distance transport.