Attack in Magdeburg: Between help and hate: What is known about Taleb A

The Magdeburg attacker does not fit into any common mold for authorities and security experts. On social networks he presented himself as a vehement critic of Islam and Saudi Arabia, and from exile he campaigned for women’s rights in his homeland. But he also has another side, and has apparently had this for a long time – this is now becoming increasingly clear after Taleb A. killed at least five people and injured 200 others, some seriously, at the Magdeburg Christmas market.

Many people are particularly puzzled about the motive of the man who has recently become increasingly critical of the German authorities and has accused them of “secret operations”. His sometimes confusing statements on social networks, for example, offer scope for interpretation. The authorities are still not sure whether they consider the crime to be politically motivated.

According to authorities, Taleb A. came to Germany in 2006. From 2011 to the beginning of 2016, he initially lived in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and completed part of his specialist training in Stralsund, explained the state’s Interior Minister, Christian Pegel (SPD). Even then, he was noticed by the authorities several times – with threats of criminal offenses.

In a dispute over the recognition of examination results, he threatened representatives of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Medical Association with an act that would receive international attention. As part of the investigation, Taleb A. was also searched, but no evidence of actual preparation for the attack was found. In 2013, Taleb A. was sentenced to 90 daily rates by the Rostock district court for disturbing the public peace by threatening to commit crimes.

As a result, there were further abnormalities. For example, the suspicion of coercion in January 2014, which led to the police addressing a threat, as Interior Minister Pegel said. The man was made aware of the consequences of such actions and was told that he would be looked at much more closely. He later described the judges who convicted him in 2013 as racists in a federal petition hotline. Pegel said he threatened to get a pistol and, if in doubt, take revenge on the judges. However, the man was not classified as a threat.

As a doctor in the penal system: “Our name is “Dr. Google””

Not even from the authorities in Saxony-Anhalt, where Taleb A. then lived. According to information from the dpa, he applied for asylum in February 2016, which was decided in July of the same year. The Saudi citizen received asylum as a politically persecuted person.

He last lived in Bernburg, a small town almost 50 kilometers from Magdeburg. There he worked as a specialist in psychiatry in the penal system and looked after addicted criminals. This was announced by the healthcare company Salus. He had been working at the facility since March 2020. “He has not been on duty since the end of October 2024 due to vacation and illness,” said a statement from the company, which runs a specialist clinic for psychiatry and addiction medicine in Bernburg.

But there was apparently distrust of the doctor and doubts about his skills among the staff. The “Mitteldeutsche Zeitung” quotes an employee: “Our name is “Dr. Google”.” Before each diagnosis was made, he had to look on the Internet. There were also information given to the clinic management. The clinic did not want to comment when asked.

In addition to his work as a doctor, Taleb A. is an activist and vehement critic of Islam – especially on social networks, where more than 40,000 people followed him even before the attack. In June 2019, an interview with Taleb A. appeared in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”: “I am the most aggressive critic of Islam in history,” he said at the time. In addition to his posts on social networks, Taleb A. said he advised women from Saudi Arabia, among others, on asylum issues and also referred their contacts to international media.

Dispute with refugee aid: “He quickly becomes aggressive.”

He also takes on the Secular Refugee Aid Germany, an association that looks after the interests of atheist refugees. Since 2019, there has only been contact with Taleb A. through lawyers and courts, the association said in a statement. After “the worst slander and verbal attacks,” members of the refugee aid agency filed a complaint against Taleb A. with the police. There was then a trial at the Cologne Regional Court.

Members of the club describe the two sides of the man. “He had two lives,” said Iranian human rights activist Mina Ahadi from the Central Council of Ex-Muslims to the German Press Agency. When you had to deal with him for a long time, you had a strange feeling. He literally terrorized members of the club, says Ahadi.

A year ago there was a criminal complaint against the now 50-year-old, the Magdeburg public prosecutor confirmed. A threat address was also planned here, but was not carried out. Human rights activist Ahadi also speaks of threats that Taleb A. made during the trial. “He becomes aggressive quickly.”

Posts on social media are becoming more radical

His posts on social media are also becoming more confused and radical. “I seriously expect to die this year,” said Taleb A.’s X account in May of this year. “I will bring justice at any cost.” The German authorities would block all paths to justice. It was initially not clear whether the Saudi actually wrote all the posts himself. A post that was published a few minutes after the attack in Magdeburg caused irritation.

According to Saudi security circles, Saudi Arabia had warned Germany about the man. The kingdom has requested his extradition. It was said that Germany did not react to this. According to security sources, he came from the city of Al-Hofuf in eastern Saudi Arabia and was Shiite. Only about ten percent of the population in the predominantly Sunni country is Shiite. There are repeated reports of discrimination against Shiites in the country.

Only around ten days ago, the American platform “RAIR”, which describes itself as an anti-Muslim grassroots organization, published an interview with the doctor that was more than 45 minutes long. In it, he accuses, among other things, the German police of carrying out “secret operations” and deliberately destroying the lives of Saudi asylum seekers who have renounced Islam. He also expressed himself as a fan of X owner Elon Musk and the AfD, which pursues the same goals as him. At the same time, however, he described himself politically as left-wing. “I’m not right-wing, I’m left-wing.”

A perpetrator who doesn’t fit into any mold

Magdeburg’s senior public prosecutor, Horst Walter Nopens, said on Saturday that the perpetrator’s motive could have been dissatisfaction with the treatment of refugees from Saudi Arabia in Germany. A spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office said on Sunday that the man’s statements about the motive sounded rather confused.

Terrorism expert Peter Neumann from King’s College in London emphasized on ZDF how difficult it was to classify the attacker ideologically. He didn’t fit into a certain mold. “He wasn’t a typical Islamist. He was a Saudi who turned against Islam.” That doesn’t really fit into the usual schemes for authorities.

We know from studies that in many cases such individual perpetrators communicated their behavior to acquaintances, friends and outsiders. “That also took place here,” said Neumann. “He reported that. He said he wanted to wage war against Germany.” However, that is also the problem of how to classify such weak signals. Today there is a flood of information from thousands of people sending similar messages on the Internet. “And it’s very, very difficult to distinguish: who is serious and who is just on the Internet making jokes?”