Officials and residents have attended a solemn Mass to honor a child and a man killed in a knife attack in Germany, an assault that amplified the debate about migration ahead of the Feb. 23 general election.

A 28-year-old man from Afghanistan has been arrested following a knife attack in a park in the German city of Aschaffenburg on Wednesday in which two people were killed, including a toddler, police said.

Police identified the suspect as an Afghan man. Politicians gearing up for an election responded with comments about migration and law and order.

With national elections coming up on February 23, both Chancellor Scholz's Social Democrats and the opposition conservatives have promised a new asylum crackdown in response to the events in Aschaffen

Germany's main opposition leader vowed on Thursday to impose immediate border controls if he becomes chancellor, as expected, after elections next month, a day after an Afghan asylum seeker was arrested for a deadly knife attack targeting children.

A memorial service was held in the southern German city of Aschaffenburg on Sunday for the victims of a knife attack in a public park that left a man and a young boy dead. "Today we are full of sorrow,