German police suspect that the perpetrator in Solingen is an IS member – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries

German prosecutors suspect that the person who stabbed and killed three people on Friday evening in the German town of Solingen is a member of the terrorist group IS. Late on Saturday evening, over a day after the attack took place, the police arrested a 26-year-old Syrian man who they suspect is the perpetrator. The German news agency DPA writes that the man was arrested in a refugee reception. A spokesperson for the prosecution says to the AFP news agency that the 26-year-old is being investigated for participation in a terrorist organisation. Three people were killed and eight injured, several of them critically, when a man stabbed random people in the throat during an anniversary celebration in Solingen on Friday. IS claims responsibility On Saturday evening, the terrorist group IS claimed responsibility for the attack. Reuters writes that the claim was published on the group’s social media, without evidence or information about the link to the perpetrator. The federal prosecutors have taken over the investigation due to the probable terrorist motive. IS has claimed responsibility for several terrorist attacks or planned terrorist attacks in recent times. Report yourself to the police The 26-year-old reported himself to the police yesterday, according to a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. According to the German newspaper Bild, the man went up to the police just after 11 pm Norwegian time and said he was the one they were looking for. He must have been hiding in the back garden since the attack the night before. Flowers, candles and a sign with the text “Kvifor?” has been laid down at the site where several people were stabbed in Solingen on Friday. Photo: ROBERTO PFEIL / AFP/NTB The German newspaper Spiegel reports that the 26-year-old came to Germany from Syria in 2022, and was granted a residence permit because there was a civil war in his homeland. Earlier on Saturday, a 15-year-old was arrested by the police, who they initially denied was the perpetrator. The witness is said to have heard the 15-year-old talking to the 26-year-old about the knife attack shortly before it happened. Increase in IS attacks – It was an attack against the way we live. That we can celebrate together, come together – and laugh – even with strangers, said Hendrik Wüst, head of government in North Rhine-Westphalia, about Friday’s attack. After several years of a decline in such terrorist attacks, experts now warn that the terrorist threat is increasing. In the mid-2010s, bloody IS attacks shook European cities such as Paris, Manchester and Brussels, but from 2017 the arrows are pointing in the right direction. Now chief researcher Petter Nesser at the Norwegian Defense Research Institute (FFI) sees several disturbing trends: Teenagers are being recruited into very serious terrorist activity Attackers in Europe are being remotely controlled from Afghanistan and other war zones This is especially true of the Islamic State in Khorasan (IS-K), the regional branch to IS in Afghanistan, which has been behind a number of different terrorist attempts and attacks in Europe recently. Published 25/08/2024, at 11.22



ttn-69