New knife attack wounds local German politician - report

A local candidate has been reportedly attacked in the German city of Mannheim, five days after the fatal stabbing of a police officer in the market square.

The man, described as a local election candidate for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, was left with cuts in the attack, German press agency DPA reported.

His party said the incident took place close to the market square on Tuesday night.

The local AfD association said its candidate had confronted a man tearing down election posters who then cut him with a knife. He was taken to hospital for treatment, it added.

Malte Kaufmann, an AfD politician and member of the Bundestag, identified the victim of the attack as Heinrich Koch, a candidate standing in the city's council election, which is due to take place on 9 June - though officials have not confirmed this.

Police in Mannheim spoke only of a police operation, adding that they would give details of the attack later on Wednesday. However, DPA said a suspect had been arrested.

The latest incident in Mannheim comes after an Afghan asylum seeker was detained on suspicion of fatally stabbing a 29-year-old police officer and wounding five campaigners opposed to radical Islam, who were preparing for a rally on Friday.

The killing has sparked outrage in Germany, prompting the government to say it may allow deportations to Afghanistan.

The 25-year-old suspect in that attack is said to have come to Germany as a refugee in 2013 and has since had two children. Deportations to Afghanistan were halted when the Taliban returned to power three years ago.

The violence came as Germans prepare to vote in European Parliament elections, which will take place across the 27 members states of the EU.

The AfD is challenging the centre-left Social Democrats of Chancellor Olaf Scholz for second place in the vote, although the far-right party's top candidates have been hit by a succession of scandals.

"We are shocked and stunned," Markus Frohnmaier, a top AfD official in the south-western state of Baden-Württemberg told German media in response to the latest incident.