A witness saw how the man 'beat the pensioner on the ground' while shouting 'Allahu Akbar'

Sunday 04 August, OFFENBURG - A 75-year-old man has been blinded in one eye by a Somali who shouted 'Allahu Akbar' and repeatedly punched him as the pensioner walked home after playing dominoes in his favourite pub.

The pensioner, identified as 75-year-old Detlef J., had just visited his regular haunt ‘Oki’s Bar’ in front of the train station in Offenburg, a city in the south-western German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, when the horrific attack took place.

The witness alerted the police, who quickly arrived on the scene and managed to arrest the attacker.

Detlef J., who had just lost his life partner a year earlier, was rushed to hospital with serious injuries. According to reports, the pensioner’s face was severely damaged in the attack and he has lost the sight in his left eye.

The suspect has been identified as a 25-year-old Somalian asylum seeker Ali M. He arrived in Germany in 2015 and received the status of recognised refugee in 2017.

Ali M., who lives in a shelter in the neighbouring state of Hesse, was reportedly in Offenburg by sheer coincidence that day.

According to local media, police investigators believe he was kicked off a train after being caught fare dodging and left at the main railway station in Offenburg.

However, it is still unknown why Ali M. decided to attack the pensioner outside the station.

The suspect is also linked to an alleged attack on a taxi driver one day earlier in the nearby city of Freiburg.

Ali M. is currently locked up in investigative custody on suspicion of attempted manslaughter and GBH. He has so far not given a statement about the attack.

Author's comment: Another one of Angela Merkel's 'success stories'. No doubt we shall soon hear that the Somali migrant has been hailed as 'an example of successful integration' - like so many others we have heard of recently.