An Afghan national has admitted to purposefully driving into a crowd in the German city of Munich and authorities have determined an Islamist motive for the crime, a prosecutor said on Friday.

At least 36 people including a child were hurt on Thursday when the 24-year-old man ploughed into demonstrators gathered in the city centre, putting security back in focus before next week’s federal election.

“He has admitted that he deliberately drove into the participants of the demonstration,” prosecutor Gabriele Tilmann told a press conference.

“I’m very cautious about making hasty judgments, but based on everything we know at the moment, I would venture to speak of an Islamist motivation for the crime,” she added.

The attack came hours before leaders including US Vice-President J.D. Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived for the Munich Security Conference.

Tilmann said there was no evidence to suggest the suspect, identified as Farhad Noori, was affiliated with any Islamist organisations.