Car drives into Munich crowd, injures 28 in suspected attack

At least 28 people have been injured after a car driven by an Afghan asylum seeker was rammed into a crowd of people in Munich. 

German police said the vehicle approached police cars, stopped by a demonstration held by the Verdi union, and then sped up and ploughed into the crowd.

The suspected attack on Thursday morning, local time, came hours before international leaders including US Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were due to arrive in the city for the Munich Security Conference.

Officers were able to detain the driver of the car at the scene and a spokesperson later said he was a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker.

They said his motive was unclear.

"It was probably an attack," Bavaria state premier Markus Soeder told reporters.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the perpetrator of the "terrible attack" could not hope for leniency.

"He must be punished and he must leave the country," he said, according to news outlet Focus Online. 

"If it was an attack, we must take consistent action against possible perpetrators with all means of justice."

Anti-migration party seizes on suspected attack

The incident took place near Munich's central train station — about 1.5 kilometres from the security conference venue — where people were participating in a demonstration linked to a strike organised by the Verdi trade union.

The union said it did not yet have any information on the incident.

Security was already in sharp focus in Germany ahead of a federal election next week and following a string of violent attacks.

Following Thursday's suspected attack in Munich, Conservative leader Friedrich Merz — frontrunner to be Germany's next chancellor — said safety would be his top priority.

"We will enforce law and order. Everyone must feel safe in our country again. Something has to change in Germany," Mr Merz posted on X.

Mainstream party leaders have been contending with the insurgent far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has been running a campaign based on anti-immigrant themes.

In December, six people were killed in an attack at a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg, and last month a toddler and adult were killed in a knife attack in the Bavarian town of Aschaffenburg. 

Immigrants were arrested after both attacks.

ABC/Wires