Update (1400ET): The machete-wielding Islamic extremist who drove into a crowd at Berlin’s Pride festival has been shot dead by police.
Abdul Ballout, 21, crashed into partygoers near the Christopher Street Day Parade on Saturday night, killing one person and wounding 29 others.
As The Telegraph reports, the German citizen, who had Lebanese roots and a previous conviction for terror offences, was the subject of a manhunt for more than 20 hours until officers tracked him down to a garden shed in Berlin-Spandau.
Special forces surrounded the plot and carried out an operation on Sunday evening.
Ballout was shot dead after advancing towards officers with a bladed weapon, Berlin police said.
Iris Spranger, Berlin’s interior senator, thanked police, saying:
“I am grateful to the security authorities for finding the attacker so quickly. That is a tremendous achievement.”
More than 2,000 police officers were involved in the manhunt, which was expanded on Sunday to include long-distance trains connecting Berlin to other major cities.
Welt newspaper reported that Ballout had convictions for grievous bodily harm and violent coercion, but more recently appeared to have been radicalised as an Islamist extremist.
He was arrested in Lebanon for trying to join Islamic State in Syria and planning a terror attack.
Florian Nath, a Berlin police spokesman, said the suspect was “known to us as a member of Islamic circles here in Berlin”.
* * *
A manhunt is underway in Berlin for a 21-year-old Islamic State supporter accused of driving a vehicle into a pride celebration, killing one person and injuring at least 16 others. The German government called it a “heinous act” of violence. Given the suspect’s jihadist ties, why not call it what it appears to be: terrorism?
“The chief suspect in a deadly attack near Berlin’s pride parade on Saturday night is a supporter of the so-called Islamic State (IS) group and was previously convicted of related offenses, German media reported Sunday,” AFP News reported on Sunday morning.
The outlet added, “The 21-year-old man named by police as Abdul B. last year traveled to the Middle East in a failed attempt to join IS, according the Bild and Spiegel newspapers. He was then convicted in Germany of “preparing a serious act of subversive violence,” the papers report.”
🇩🇪 The chief suspect in a deadly attack near Berlin’s Pride parade on Saturday night is a supporter of the so-called Islamic State (IS) group and was previously convicted for related offences, German media reported Sunday.
The 21-year-old man named by police as Abdul B. last… pic.twitter.com/VhSvzBZWo4
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) July 26, 2026
The attack occurred late Saturday night when Abdul drove his van into a group of pedestrians at the pride festival in Tiergarten, shortly before 10 p.m.
🚨 ANOTHER DEADLY ISLAMIST ATTACK IN GERMANY.
German authorities say they are searching for a suspect identified as an Islamist following a deadly attack near a Pride event in Berlin.
Europe has been warned repeatedly about the security consequences of failing to tackle…
— Jim Ferguson (@JimFergusonUK) July 26, 2026
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, Germany’s top federal security official, said they “will push with particular urgency for the resolution and punishment of this heinous act.”
Yet their statement stopped short of describing the attack as terrorism…
British political activist commented on the attack:
There is currently a manhunt in Berlin for ‘known’ Islamist Abdul B for predominantly peacefully driving straight through a pride parade while advocating for the religion of peace.
When you allow ‘known’ Islamist scumbags into your country what do you think will happen?
There is currently a manhunt in Berlin for ‘known’ Islamist Abdul B for predominantly peacefully driving straight through a pride parade while advocating for the religion of peace.
When you allow ‘known’ Islamist scumbags into your country what do you think will happen? pic.twitter.com/QMwqmTpmfv
— Tommy Robinson 🇬🇧 (@TRobinsonNewEra) July 26, 2026
The attack will certainly intensify scrutiny of Europe’s backfiring mass-migration policies and Germany’s failure to adequately confront Islamist radicalization. Progressive policymakers in Berlin have increasingly focused on the AfD and right-wing extremism, but the latest violence is another reminder that jihadist networks remain among the country’s most serious national security threats.
Interesting given that it seems that these events in Germany are often about how bad the @AfD is supposed to be. Most Muslims in Germany (like France and the UK) favor left-wing parties. https://t.co/KSXVhCOjW3
— Alberto Miguel Fernandez (@AlbertoMiguelF5) July 26, 2026
The attack will likely bolster more support for Alternative for Germany, which has positioned itself as the common-sense opposition to the left-wing political establishment. Its growing momentum suggests German voters are increasingly frustrated with nutty lefty globalist policies that have pushed Europe closer and closer to the brink of failure.
Tyler Durden
Sun, 07/26/2026 – 14:00
