Toddler and man fatally stabbed in German park

Police cordoned off the park after the knife attack on Wednesday morning

A two-year-old boy and a man aged 41 have been killed in a stabbing in a German park.

Police confirmed that a 28-year-old man from Afghanistan was arrested following the attack in Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg.

Two others were taken to hospital with serious injuries and the public park was cordoned off by officers.

Joachim Herrmann, Bavaria's interior minister, said the suspect was previously detained at least three times for violent behaviour, but was released after he had psychiatric treatment. He was due to return to Afghanistan after his claim for asylum was rejected.

It is the latest fatal knife attack in Germany in recent months, and comes weeks before a federal election on 23 February.

Police said their investigation into the stabbing was ongoing, but that the attack had taken place at about 11:45 (10:45 GMT) at Schöntal Park in Aschaffenburg, about 22 miles (36 kilometres) south-east of Frankfurt.

The attack involved a kindergarten group and other people were injured, including another child, Herrmann said in a statement near the park.

Markus Söder, the Bavarian state premier, called it a "cowardly and despicable act". German reports suggested the suspect had a history of mental health issues.

He added that the boy was of Moroccan descent, and the man killed was a German passer-by "who happened to be at the scene of the crime".

Mr Söder described the man as "a helper who paid for his civil courage with his own life".

The suspect was arrested close to the scene. Officers said a second person was initially detained at the scene but was now being treated as a witness.

Officials said a search of his room had not revealed signs of the suspect being motivated by radical Islam.

Police said there was no danger to the public.

Söder said it was a terrible day and called for a pause: "We mourn the loss of a small, innocent child."

Police said they were investigating a motive and the background to the attack remained unclear. The suspect was said to have been staying in accommodation for asylum seekers.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who was on a visit to France, condemned an "unbelievable act of terror". He posted on social media that he was tired of seeing "such acts of violence every few weeks" and urged authorities to find out why the suspect was still in Germany.

The German government has come under increasing pressure to take a harder line on immigration after a number of fatal attacks, and with federal elections due on 23 February, the anti-immigration, far-right AfD is second in the polls.

Five people were killed when a man rammed his car into a crowd at Magdeburg's Christmas market in December. A Saudi doctor has been charged with the attack.

In August, three people were fatally stabbed in the town of Solingen. The suspect was a Syrian national facing deportation after a failed asylum.

That attack led to the German government expanding border checks and tightening controls on knives, and fuelled an intense debate over asylum rules that has continued in the run up to next month's election.

The conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) currently lead the polls and Olaf Scholz's centre-left Social Democratic Party (SDP) are behind in third place.

The election was called after Scholz's three-party coalition collapsed in November.