65-year-old Polish woman killed in Berlin Pride attack; suspect, an Islamic State sympathizer, shot dead by police

The attack

On Saturday evening, 25 July, around 22:00, a white van drove at high speed into a crowd in an alley of Berlin's Tiergarten park, near the Brandenburg Gate and Potsdamer Platz. The area was packed with participants of the Christopher Street Day (CSD) pride parade. After leaving the vehicle, the driver attacked passers-by with a machete, according to Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt. The parade was immediately halted, with organizers displaying evacuation messages on screens and asking attendees to leave calmly.

The victim

Berlin mayor Kai Wegner confirmed on Monday that the woman killed was a 65-year-old Polish citizen who was visiting the city with her daughter. The daughter was among the 29 people injured. Polish foreign ministry spokesman Maciej Wewiór said the consulate in Berlin is in contact with German authorities and will provide the family with necessary support.

We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn that the victim of the tragic attack in Berlin was a Polish citizen. We extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased.

Wegner offered condolences to Poland's chargé d'affaires Jan Tombiński, saying the attack had moved him deeply and his thoughts were with the daughter and family of the murdered woman.

The attacker and his radicalization

The suspect, identified as 21-year-old Abdul B., was a German-born man of Lebanese origin and a known sympathizer of the Islamic State. He was shot dead on Sunday during a police operation in allotment gardens in Berlin's Spandau district. A large-scale manhunt involving special units, helicopters, and patrols had been underway since Saturday night.

Abdul B. had a history of radicalization. In 2024 he posted banned IS propaganda on Instagram. In May 2025 he traveled to Lebanon intending to reach Syria and join IS, but was arrested and spent three months in custody there. Back in Berlin, he was sentenced in May 2026 under juvenile law to one year and ten months suspended for preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state. The conditions of the suspended sentence were not fully disclosed. His father, Tawfik B., told Der Spiegel that his son had been "brainwashed" and described him as generous and affectionate, but said they had clashed over his beard and hair, which the father saw as signs of extremism. The father, a Shia from southern Lebanon, insisted the family does not support IS, though he acknowledged his son "loved Sunnis."

Political fallout

Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the choice of the Pride parade as a target was not accidental. He called it an attack on freedom and liberal values, not only on the queer community. Speaking in Berlin, Merz said it was too early to specify political consequences but that the government would have to react with prudence and determination. The attack was discussed at a meeting of the CDU party leadership.

It was not an attack solely on the queer community; it was an attack on our freedom, an attack on our free society.

Berlin mayor Wegner said the terrorist attack was motivated by hatred and called for more cooperation and solidarity.

Memorial

A commemoration for the victim is scheduled for Tuesday at 15:00 in front of the Brandenburg Gate.