Germany: Solingen attack suspect probed for terrorist links

The investigation into a man suspected of carrying out deadly stabbings at a festival in the western German city of Solingen is now in the hands of federal prosecutors as being a case of suspected terrorism, a police spokesperson said on Sunday.

The attacks on Friday evening, in which three people died and eight were injured, has been claimed by the extremist "Islamic State" (IS) group. The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office is now examining whether a suspect who handed himself in on Saturday evening has links with the terrorist organization.

Police said the suspect, identified as a 26-year-old Syrian man, had admitted responsibility for the attack and was currently being questioned. German news magazine Spiegel reported that the suspect came to Germany in 2022 as a refugee and applied for asylum in the city of Bielefeld. 

According to Germany's dpa news agency, the man's asylum claim was denied and he was to have been deported last year. The agency cited no sources for its information.

The suspect came from a home for refugees in Solingen that was searched on Saturday, according to Herbert Reul, the interior minister of the state of  North Rhine-Westphalia, where Solingen is situated.  

According to Spiegel, the suspect will be taken to the southern city of Karlsruhe on Sunday to appear before the Federal Court of Justice, the highest court of civil and criminal jurisdiction in Germany. A judge at the court will then decide on the conditions of his pre-trial detention, the magazine said.

Random stabbings at 'Festival of Diversity'

The attacks occurred in front of a music stage at an event in Solingen's market square to mark 650 years of the city's history.

Two men, aged 67 and 56, and a 56-year-old woman were killed by the knife-wielding attacker, who also injured eight other people, four of them seriously. Those with serious injuries were said on Sunday to be on the way to recovery after treatment at nearby hospitals.

The assailant fled unidentified amid the panic caused by the attacks, which police said deliberately targeted victims' throats.

On Saturday, IS claimed responsibility for the attack on its news site, without providing evidence. The extremist group said that a "soldier of the Islamic State" had carried out the crimes "to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere."

The claim has not been verified.

German officials have said that they have also arrested a 15-year-old boy on suspicion that he knew about the planned attack and failed to inform authorities.

Call for stricter knife laws

Amid rising levels of knife crime in Germany, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck has demanded tougher knife laws in the wake of the attack.

"No one in Germany needs to have a knife in a public place," the Green politician said on the X social media platform, formerly Twitter,  adding that "Islamic terrorism" was one of "the biggest security dangers" Germany faces.  

The Solingen incident is likely to further inflame anti-immigration sentiment and xenophobia in some sectors of German society and possibly boost support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) ahead of elections next week in the eastern states of Thuringia and Saxony, where the party already enjoys considerable popularity.

tj/nm (AP, dpa, Reuters)

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