SOLINGEN, Germany (AP) — The Islamic State group Saturday claimed accountability for a knife assault in Solingen, Germany that killed three individuals and wounded eight others, in response to its Amaq information website.
The group stated the attacker focused Christians and is a “soldier of the Islamic State” who carried out the assault “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.”
Police started raiding a house for asylum seekers within the metropolis heart of Solingen, together with with particular forces, the German information company DPA reported.
“We have received tips and therefore we are currently conducting police activities,” a police spokesperson stated.
Particular police models had joined the seek for the unknown knifeman who reduce the throats of revelers at a crowded competition within the western German metropolis, killing three individuals and wounding a minimum of eight others, 4 of them severely.
A 15-year-old boy was arrested early Saturday. Police stated he was suspected of understanding concerning the deliberate assault and failing to tell authorities, however he was not the attacker.
Markus Caspers, from the counterterrorism part of the general public prosecutors workplace, informed a information convention on Saturday that authorities haven’t discovered the perpetrator.
“So far we have not been able to identify a motive, but looking at the overall circumstances, we cannot rule out” the potential for terrorism, Caspers stated, although he didn’t supply additional particulars.
The three individuals who died had been two males aged 67 and 56 and a 56-year-old girl, authorities stated. Police stated the attacker appeared to have intentionally aimed for his victims’ throats.
Thorsten Fleiss from the German police, who was the chief of operations on Friday evening, stated that police are conducting numerous searches and investigations in your entire state of North Rhine Westphalia that may proceed all through the day.
He stated that it’s a “big challenge” to convey collectively obtainable proof and testimony from witnesses with a purpose to give you a total image.
Fleiss additionally stated that police have discovered a number of knives however added that he was unable to substantiate whether or not any of them have been used as weapon by the perpetrator through the assault.
Police warned individuals to remain vigilant whilst nicely wishers began to depart flowers on the scene. Authorities established a web based portal the place witnesses may add footage and every other data related to the assault.
Church buildings in Solingen have opened their doorways to supply an area for prayer and emergency pastoral care.
German Inside Minister Nancy Faeser paid a go to to Solingen on Saturday night. She stated that the federal government would do all the pieces doable to assist town and the individuals Solingen.
“We will not allow that such an awful attack divides our society,” she stated, showing alongside Minister-President of the German State of North Rhine Westphalia Hendrik Wüst and State Minister for Inner Affairs Herbert Reul.
Wüst described the assault as “an act of terror against the security and freedom of this country.” However Faeser, the nation’s high safety official, hasn’t categorized it as a “terror attack.”
Henning Kaiser/dpa through Getty Photographs
Reul introduced that the deliberate go to of the inside minister to the crime scene wouldn’t happen due to the continued police operation within the affected areas of town. He pleaded with the general public to “give time to the police” in order that they will do their work. He additionally stated that police presence can be elevated at bigger occasions, particularly as a result of the perpetrator hasn’t been caught but.
Folks alerted police shortly after 9:30 p.m. Friday to an unknown attacker having wounded a number of individuals with a knife on a central sq., 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,” the mayor of Solingen, Tim Kurzbach, stated, chatting with reporters on Saturday close to the scene of the assault.
The “Festival of Diversity,” marking town’s 650th anniversary, started Friday and was alleged to run by way of Sunday, with a number of levels in central streets providing sights equivalent to reside music, cabaret and acrobatics.
The assault came about within the crowd in entrance of 1 stage. Hours after the assault, the stage lights had been nonetheless on as police and forensic investigators seemed for clues within the cordoned-off sq.. The remainder of the competition was canceled.
Solingen has about 160,000 residents and is positioned close to the larger cities of Cologne and Duesseldorf.
Caspers informed the information convention that the 15-year-old boy was arrested after two feminine witnesses contacted police. They stated that they had listened to a dialog between the boy and an unknown individual earlier than the assault, talking about intentions that corresponded to the occasions that adopted.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated on Saturday that the perpetrator should be caught rapidly and punished with the complete pressure of the legislation.
“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 stated on X.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier additionally 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 stated in a press release on Saturday.
“The perpetrator needs to be brought to justice. Let’s stand together — against hatred and violence.”
There was concern about elevated knife violence in Germany, and Inside Minister Nancy Faeser just lately proposed toughening weapons legal guidelines to permit solely knives with a blade measuring as much as 6 centimeters (almost 2.4 inches) to be carried in public, somewhat than the size of 12 centimeters (4.7 inches) that’s at the moment allowed.
Stephanie Liechtenstein reported from Vienna.
