Attack: Report: 110 official incidents regarding Taleb A.

The MPs already knew a lot – but not that much: Germany’s security authorities had dealt with the later perpetrator a total of 110 times before the terrorist act in Magdeburg. The fact that Taleb A. was no stranger to the relevant federal and state authorities has been known at least since the previous meeting of the Bundestag’s Interior Committee.

But almost four weeks after the death trip from Magdeburg, it is now becoming increasingly clear how continuously the responsible authorities were involved with the later assassin over the years. A chronology (“as of January 13, 2025, 6:00 p.m.”) lists a total of 110 incidents on 16 pages with small print.

Authorities dealt with Taleb A. more often than previously known

The new report comes from Faeser’s house and is based on data that federal authorities and states submitted to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). The meticulous precision work is classified as “classified information – for official use only” and is available to the German Press Agency (dpa) in Berlin. The “Spiegel” first reported about it in its online edition.

The report was completed less than 20 hours before the second committee meeting of the Interior Committee. At least the authorities don’t seem to want to keep anything behind the scenes this time, according to the opposition after the three-hour meeting. The number of reported incidents involving Taleb A. before his attack at the Magdeburg Christmas market was significantly higher than previously known. There were 80 incidents reported in December. Now there are 30 more.

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser used the second committee meeting to call for financial help for the injured and their families: “We will ask the German Bundestag to provide financial support.” It should make no difference whether the act is legally classified as a terrorist attack.

Saudi Arabia warned as early as 2023

The ministry paper, prepared in table form, shows that Saudi Arabia’s authorities wrote to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) on November 27, 2023. The Saudis reported a posting by Taleb A. on his X account. “Something big will happen in Germany,” wrote the later assassin – something big will happen in Germany. The German authorities – accustomed to postings of this kind – assessed Taleb A’s message as a “non-specific threat situation due to a lack of concrete information” and asked for concrete clues if there were any.

Taleb As’s crime in December last year left six dead and around 300 injured. It left deep wounds in Magdeburg. There, too, the events of December 20th were in the public eye this Thursday. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited.

The report from the Federal Ministry of the Interior shows what happened to Taleb A. after 2023. Two months before the psychiatrist’s cruel attack, Germany’s intelligence agencies received mail from the Saudis again – that’s what it says in a salmon-colored box in the chronology. This time, Saudi Arabia left it with a reminder of its 2023 communication. The report notes: “No new content, just a reference to letters of reference and a request to send information on measures taken.”

“The letter was processed by the BND”

The next box in the chronological table shows what happened next. It is the second to last entry. Its color: yellow. Yellow stands for processing by the BND. The BfV sent the Saudi information there. “The letter was processed by the BND.” The entry doesn’t provide any more information.

Overall, the report with the information collected by the BKA shows that authorities in at least six federal states and the federal government were involved with Taleb A. In addition to Saxony-Anhalt, these also included Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, North Rhine-Westphalia, Berlin, Hamburg and Bavaria. Information about possible crimes also came from Great Britain and Kuwait. More than a dozen investigations were underway against him in Germany in the years before the attack, most of which were dropped.

Where Taleb A’s hatred of Germany comes from

Experts on Saudi Arabia and migration have analyzed the background. For Taleb A., the hatred of Germany comes from the hatred of his home country. He is described as a supporter of conspiracy claims about the “Islamization” of the Federal Republic, which was carried out by Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU). Faeser also said he was “close to the ideologies of right-wing extremists.” His hatred is directed both against the German state and against individuals.

“The investigation into the terrible attack in Magdeburg is still at the very beginning,” says Green MP Konstantin von Notz to the German Press Agency. Union representative Andrea Lindholz (CSU) said after the meeting of the dpa Interior Committee: “The case is not over yet.”

Faeser announces consequences – from better data management by the federal and state security authorities to new concepts for assessing the danger of people who do not fit into any previous grid, to case conferences when several authorities employ one person.

In the eyes of CSU MP Lindholz, the question arises as to why all of this is not already well underway and far along – after all, such demands are anything but new. In the Taleb A. case, Lindholz has one more question: “What happened between 2006 and 2023?” Because A. came to Germany almost 20 years ago. The chronology is silent about the years between this point and 2023.

Committee meeting “Spiegel” report Interior Committee analysis of Taleb A.