The German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) reported that in late summer 2023, they received a tip via social media regarding a person involved in the Magdeburg attack, according to the dpa agency.

The man suspected of driving a car into a Christmas market in Germany is an exiled Saudi doctor who praised far-Right politicians for combating the “Islamisation” of Europe and pledged to take “revenge” for the “harassment” of female refugees.

The officials said Riyadh warned the German authorities the suspected attacker, Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a Saudi dissident who described himself as an ex-Muslim, had boasted on social media that “something big will happen in Germany”. It was unclear if police ever acted upon the warnings.