German prosecutor seeks arrest on terror charges of a Syrian man who allegedly stabbed 4

BERLIN — Germany's top prosecutor on Wednesday submitted a new arrest warrant based on terrorism allegations for a Syrian man who stabbed and critically injured four men outside a restaurant in the western city of Bielefeld last month.

The federal prosecutor's office said in a statement that the accused, who has only been identified as Mahmoud M. in line with German privacy rules, “is urgently suspected of membership of a foreign terrorist organization, attempted murder and dangerous bodily harm.”

Last month, the defendant attacked several people with a knife outside a restaurant in downtown Bielefeld in the early morning. Four men were seriously injured.

Prosecutors allege that the suspect follows an Islamist-jihadist ideology. He joined the Islamic State group in Syria in December 2014 at the latest in the city of Raqqa in Syria, they said.

After entering Germany, prosecutors said the accused decided to kill as many randomly selected people in Germany as possible. He did so ”in the name of a global 'holy war' and on behalf of Islamic State,” they added.

“To this end, in the early morning of May 18, 2025, he stabbed guests with knives in front of a restaurant in Bielefeld, critically injuring four people,” the prosecutors said.

The newly submitted arrest warrant replaces an arrest warrant issued by a Bielefeld local court on May 20, which had been obtained by the Bielefeld public prosecutor’s office. M. was arrested on May 19, and has been in custody since then. On May 20, the federal prosecutor’s office had taken over the investigation.

Among other things, the federal prosecutor's office takes over terrorism-related cases from local prosecutors in Germany.