ISIS claims German knife rampage that killed 3 ‘to avenge Palestine’; suspect held
Officials say perpetrator slashed his victims’ throats at music festival; expert says ISIS ‘trying to capitalize on huge mobilization’ resulting from Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror onslaught
SOLINGEN, Germany (AP) — The Islamic State terrorist group claimed on Saturday responsibility for a knife attack in Solingen, Germany that killed three people and wounded eight others, according to its Amaq news site.
The group said the attacker targeted Christians and was a “soldier of the Islamic State” who carried out the attack “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.”
The claim couldn’t immediately be verified. It provided no evidence for its assertions.
Police later detained a suspect, the internal affairs minister of North Rhein Westphalia state said early Sunday.
“We have been following a hot lead all day,” Herbert Reul told “Tagesschau,” the news program of the German public television network ARD. “The person we have been searching for all day has been detained a short while ago.”
He was being questioned, Reul said.
Reul said police not only had “clues” but also collected “pieces of evidence.”
Officials earlier said a 15-year-old boy was arrested early Saturday on suspicion he knew about the planned attack and failed to inform authorities, but he was not the attacker. Two female witnesses told police they overheard the boy and an unknown person before the attack speaking about intentions that corresponded to the bloodshed, officials said.
Before the Reul announcement, Markus Caspers, senior public prosecutor from the counterterrorism section of the public prosecutor’s office, said at a news conference Saturday that authorities could not yet speak on the attacker’s motivation.
“So far we have not been able to identify a motive, but looking at the overall circumstances, we cannot rule out” the possibility of terrorism, Caspers said, though he did not offer further details.
The three people who died were two men aged 67 and 56 and a 56-year-old woman, authorities said. Police said the attacker appeared to have deliberately aimed for his victims’ throats.
“We are seeing the first signs of a new wave of terrorist attacks,” said Peter Neumann, a professor of security studies at King’s College in London. ISIS “is trying to capitalize on the huge mobilization resulting from Hamas’s terror offensive on October 7, 2023, even though strictly speaking it had nothing to do with it,” he said.
“The kind of attack we saw in Solingen is exactly the kind of attack that [ISIS] is trying to inspire. It’s calling on people over the internet to attack ‘unbelievers’ using simple methods, like cars and knives. That way, it is trying to create an impression that [ISIS] is everywhere and could strike anytime,” Neumann told The Associated Press.
Thorsten Fleiss from the German police, who was the chief of operations on Friday night, said that police were conducting various searches and investigations in the entire state of North Rhine Westphalia that would continue. He said it was a “big challenge” to bring together available evidence and testimony from witnesses in order to come up with an overall picture.
Fleiss also said that police have found several knives but added that he was unable to confirm whether any of them were used as a weapon by the perpetrator during the attack.
Police warned people to stay vigilant even as well-wishers started to leave flowers at the scene. Authorities established an online portal where witnesses could upload footage and any other information relevant to the attack.
Churches in Solingen have opened their doors to offer a space for prayer and emergency pastoral care.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser paid a visit to Solingen on Saturday evening. She said the government would do everything possible to support the city and the people of Solingen.
“We will not allow such an awful attack to divide our society,” she said, appearing alongside Minister-President of the German State of North Rhine Westphalia Hendrik Wüst and State Minister for Internal Affairs Herbert Reul.
Wüst described the attack as “an act of terror against the security and freedom of this country.” But Faeser, the country’s top security official, has not classified it as a terror attack.
People alerted police shortly after 9:30 p.m. Friday to an unknown attacker having wounded several people with a knife on a central square, the Fronhof.
“Last night our hearts were torn apart. We in Solingen are full of horror and grief. What happened yesterday in our city has hardly let any of us sleep,” Tim Kurzbach, the mayor of Solingen, told reporters on Saturday near the scene of the attack.
The “Festival of Diversity,” marking the city’s 650th anniversary, began Friday and was supposed to run through Sunday, with several stages in central streets offering attractions such as live music, cabaret and acrobatics.
The attack took place in the crowd in front of one stage. Hours after the attack, the stage lights were still on as police and forensic investigators looked for clues in the cordoned-off square. The rest of the festival was canceled.
Solingen has about 160,000 residents and is located near the bigger cities of Cologne and Duesseldorf.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Saturday that the perpetrator must be punished with the full force of the law.
“The attack in Solingen is a terrible event that has shocked me greatly. An attacker has brutally killed several people. I have just spoken to Solingen’s mayor, Tim Kurzbach. We mourn the victims and stand by their families,” Scholz wrote on X.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also spoke to Kurzbach on Saturday morning.
“The heinous act in Solingen shocks me and our country. We mourn those killed and worry about those injured and I wish them strength and a speedy recovery from all my heart,” Steinmeier said in a statement on Saturday.
There has been concern about increased knife violence in Germany, and German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser recently proposed toughening weapons laws to allow only knives with a blade measuring up to 6 centimeters (nearly 2.4 inches) to be carried in public, rather than the length of 12 centimeters (4.7 inches) that is currently allowed.
