Lebanese-German ISIS terrorist who ploughed into Pride parade killing one and injuring 29 is shot and killed

Published: 18:20, 26 July 2026 | Updated: 18:59, 26 July 2026 The Lebanese-German ISIS terrorist who ploughed a vehicle into a Pride parade, killing one and injuring 29 has been shot and killed.  Abdul Ballout rammed a van into a crowd at Berlin's annual Christopher Street Day Pride parade on Saturday.  German media reported on Sunday that the 21-year-old had been shot and killed during a police operation at a garden complex in Spandau, west Berlin. Police said it was believed he had 'rushed towards our emergency forces with a stabbing weapon, after which police firearms were used by our SEK (Special Operations Command) Berlin.' A spokesman added that 'despite immediate resuscitation measures' Ballout died at the scene. Officials had launched a largescale manhunt for the terrorist, who had previously tried to join the Islamic State group.  Police sources, quoted by German media, said Abdul B, a German citizen, had travelled to Lebanon in 2025 in an unsuccessful attempt to join the Islamic State (IS) group. He had been in pre-trial detention until May 2026, and was ordered to take part in a de-radicalisation programme. Abdul Ballout has been shot and killed, according to German media  The Citroen Spacetourer used in the attack in Tiergarten park is removed from the crash scene by police Berliners gather at Brandenburg Gate after a deadly incident in which a vehicle crashed into a crowd celebrating Pride  In an update this afternoon, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt confirmed the number of people injured had risen from 16 to 29, three of whom have suffered life-threatening injuries. He said 'everything we are seeing here indicates that we have experienced an Islamist attack'. Mr Dobrindt said the suspect 'rammed into a crowd with a car' and 'then attacked the crowd with some type of blade, it might have been a machete, and also severely injured those people'. The minister said: 'We cannot rule out the possibility that further terrorist attacks might take place.' Mr Dobrindt added that Abdul B was born in Germany in 2005 and has a Lebanese background. His mother became a naturalised German citizen in 2002.  This May, he was convicted in Germany of 'preparing a serious act of subversive violence,' the papers report, but according to Spiegel news magazine, Abdul B received a suspended sentence. According to Bild newspaper, he was arrested in Lebanon while attempting to join IS and sent back to Germany as he is a German citizen. Spiegel reported that a few weeks ago there was a tip-off that Abdul B had posted a photo online posing with a weapon. People mourn together in front of a rainbow flag as they gather on July 26, 2026, at the Brandenburg Gate A woman wipes away tears as she attends the memorial site commemorating the victims near the scene where a car rammed into a crowd Police form a perimeter around the vehicle which crashed into a crowd near Berlin's annual Christopher Street Day Pride parade on Saturday However, a search of his apartment turned up only a toy replica. Police had been deployed to the suspect's alleged address, around one kilometre south of the scene of the attack. Following the attack, Berlin's mayor, Kai Wegner, said: 'This was an attack on all of us. It was an attack on our way of life and coexistence... and our way of life. Ladies and gentlemen, this must end. We must be very clear about this.' Police and prosecutors said the suspect was believed to have injured several people with a moving vehicle before one or more people left the van. Several people were also apparently stabbed, they added. Chancellor Friedrich Merz described the incident as 'an attack on our society'. 'What an abhorrent act in Berlin,' Merz wrote in a post on X. He added that Germany loves freedom, 'and we will preserve and defend that'. The attack unfolded near the city's annual Pride celebrations on Saturday evening, triggering a major emergency response and prompting authorities to launch a large-scale manhunt. Police have not yet disclosed a motive but are investigating the incident as a suspected extremist attack. According to police, a white van drove into the Tiergarten park around 10pm and hit several people before colliding with a tree. The closing party at the Pride festival, known as Christopher Street Day, was going on nearby at the time, following a parade with some 80 trucks that had made its way through downtown Berlin earlier in the day. Julian Miethig, who had attended the LGBTQ+ party earlier, said he had just wanted to go to an afterparty when he heard from a friend that 'something bad happened'. He said he went to Tiergarten and was shocked that something like this could have happened at Berlin's Pride celebrations. 'It's a dark day for the community,' he added. The Pride event next to the Brandenburg Gate was called off around 10:15pm and a band's performance on stage was interrupted. Organisers of the Christopher Street Day pride celebrations in Berlin have cancelled a further two events following the attack. Hundreds of thousands of people had come to Berlin to be at one of Europe's largest LGBTQ+ celebrations on Saturday, although it's unclear how many were still at the festival by late evening. The word 'Evacuation' was displayed in bright colours on a large screen near the Brandenburg Gate, as people were urged to go home and to avoid taking the route through the Tiergarten park, with an Instagram post instructing them to leave in an 'orderly manner'. 'Please avoid the Victory Column and the Tiergarten. Leave the area in the direction of the main train station,' the post read.