Van ploughs into Pride parade in Berlin, leaving one dead and 29 injured: the attacker has been killed

The main suspect in the attack on Berlin Pride has been killed, according to German police. Berlin’s Senator for the Interior, Iris Spranger (SPD), who is currently meeting with senior law enforcement officials, has thanked the police. “I am grateful to the security authorities for identifying the attacker so quickly. It is an extraordinary achievement,” reports *Bild*. According to *Die Welt*, several helicopters were flying over the area where the operation took place.

He is Abdul Ballout, a young man of Lebanese origin and an ISIS supporter who had already been convicted of ‘plotting a serious act of violence against the state’: he had attempted to reach the Islamic State in Syria in 2025, but had been arrested in Lebanon. A German citizen since 2002, he had been repatriated. One woman was killed and 29 people were injured in the raid. Interior Minister Dobrindt described it as “an Islamist terrorist attack”. “We are all shocked and horrified. It was an attack on our open society, on our way of life and on our way of living together,” said President Steinmeier.

An Iranian national has been arrested on suspicion of being an accomplice in the attack. The police believe he was in the van that ploughed into the crowd. Ballout, aged 21, was wearing a black hooded top and white trousers.

The German Minister of the Interior, Alexander Dobrindt, stated at a press conference that the attacker had used a van to plough into the crowd and then used a knife or “another blunt instrument” to attack passers-by, causing serious injuries.

Il sospettato ventunenne, identificato dalla polizia come Abdul B. in un appello pubblico per il suo arresto, dopo che sabato sera un veicolo ha investito la folla nei pressi dei festeggiamenti del Pride CSD di Berlino, uccidendo una persona e ferendone diverse altre, in questa fotodiffusa dalla Polizei Berlin il 26 luglio 2026.

Last night at around 10 pm, a van drove into the city park of Tiergarten and ploughed into the crowd gathered for the demonstration, killing one person – a woman – and injuring 29 others, three of whom are in a critical condition. The 21-year-old suspect, who was released from a youth detention centre in May, is reportedly known to the authorities and linked to ‘Islamist circles’. The police carried out a search of a flat but found it empty. The mayor of the German capital said: “An attack on our society, which is open to the world.” Chancellor Friedrich Merz described it as “an abominable act” and promised an investigation conducted “with particular determination” to bring the perpetrator to justice.