Germany's opposition leader has vowed to bar people from entering the country without proper papers and to step up deportations if he is elected as chancellor next month, as a knife attack by a rejected asylum-seeker spills over into an election campaign in which he is the front-runner.

And with just one month to go until Germany's federal elections, the incident has further enflamed an already heated immigration debate in the country. Friedrich Merz, leader of the center-right opposition Christian Democrats and favorite to become Germany's next chancellor,

BERLIN – The arrest of an Afghan asylum seeker suspected of killing two people in a knife attack targeting children at a German park has prompted calls for a much tougher migration stance and fired up campaigning for Germany’s Feb 23 national election.

The motives for the stabbing are still unclear, with police asking for witnesses to submit evidence. A stabbing in the southern German city of Aschaffenburg has left two people dead on Wednesday, local police said.

Germany's opposition leader vows to toughen migration policies following a knife attack by an asylum-seeker. He pledges to enhance deportations and control borders if elected. The current government faces criticism amid rising far-right sentiments,

Friedrich Merz says he will close Germany's borders to irregular migrants, including those with a right to protection.

The chancellor, lagging in the polls ahead of the Feb. 23 election, called for an investigation into why the Afghan suspect was even in Germany.

The arrest of an Afghan asylum seeker suspected of killing two people in a knife attack targeting children in a German park has prompted calls for a much tougher migration stance and fired up campaigning for Germany's Feb.