IS claims responsibility for fatal knife attack in Solingen, Germany

The group stated on its information web site that the attacker focused Christians and is a “soldier of the Islamic State” who carried out the assaults on Friday evening “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and in all places”.

The IS declare couldn’t instantly be verified.

No proof for the group’s assertions was supplied.

Police started raiding a house for asylum seekers in Solingen’s metropolis centre, together with with particular forces, the German information company DPA reported.

Police informed DPA later that they detained a person within the dwelling and have been trying right into a doable connection to the knife assault.

There was no official assertion from police.

A 15-year-old boy was arrested early on 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, senior public prosecutor from the counterterrorism part of the general public prosecutors workplace, informed a information convention earlier on Saturday that authorities haven’t discovered the perpetrator.

“To date we’ve not been capable of determine a motive, however trying on the total circumstances, we can not rule out” the potential of terrorism, Mr Caspers stated, although he didn’t supply additional particulars.

The three individuals who died have been two males aged 67 and 56 and a 56-year-old lady, authorities stated.

Police stated the attacker appeared to have intentionally aimed for his victims’ throats.

“We’re seeing the primary indicators of a brand new wave of terrorist assaults,” stated Peter Neumann, a professor of safety research at King’s Faculty London.

IS “is making an attempt to capitalise on the large mobilisation ensuing from Hamas’s terror offensive on October 7 2023, although strictly talking it had nothing to do with it”, he stated.

“The sort of assault we noticed in Solingen is strictly the sort of assault that (IS) is making an attempt to encourage. It’s calling on folks over the web to assault ‘unbelievers’ utilizing easy strategies. like automobiles and knives. That means, it’s making an attempt to create an impression that (IS) is in all places and will strike anytime,” Prof Neumann informed the Related Press.

Thorsten Fleiss, from the German police, who was the chief of operations on Friday evening, stated police are conducting numerous searches and investigations in your entire state of North Rhine Westphalia that may proceed all through the day.

He stated it’s a “massive problem” to convey collectively out there proof and testimony from witnesses with a purpose to provide you with an total image.

Mr 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 had been used as a weapon by the perpetrator through the assault.

Police warned folks to remain vigilant whilst well-wishers began to depart flowers on the scene.

Authorities established an internet portal the place witnesses might add footage and another 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 the town and the folks of Solingen.

“We is not going to permit that such an terrible assault divides our society,” she stated, showing alongside minister-president of the German state of North Rhine Westphalia Hendrik Wust and state minister for inside affairs Herbert Reul.

Mr Wust described the assault as “an act of terror towards the safety and freedom of this nation”.

However Ms Faeser, the nation’s high safety official, has not labeled it as a “terror assault”.

Mr Reul introduced that the deliberate go to of the inside minister to the crime scene wouldn’t happen due to the continuing police operation within the affected areas of the town.

He pleaded with the general public to “give time to the police” in order that they will do their work.

Mr Reul additionally stated that the police presence could be elevated at bigger occasions, particularly as a result of the perpetrator has not been caught but.

Individuals alerted police shortly after 9.30pm native time on Friday to an unknown attacker having wounded a number of folks with a knife on a central sq., the Fronhof.

“Final evening our hearts have been torn aside. We in Solingen are filled with horror and grief. What occurred yesterday in our metropolis has hardly let any of us sleep,” the mayor of Solingen Tim Kurzbach stated, talking to reporters on Saturday close to the scene of the assault.

The Competition of Variety, marking the town’s 650th anniversary, started on Friday and was speculated to run till Sunday, with a number of phases in central streets providing points of interest similar to stay music, cabaret and acrobatics.

The assault occurred within the crowd in entrance of 1 stage.

Hours after the assault, the stage lights have been nonetheless on as police and forensic investigators regarded for clues within the cordoned-off sq..

The remainder of the pageant was cancelled.

Solingen has about 160,000 residents and is situated close to the larger cities of Cologne and Dusseldorf.

Mr Caspers informed the information convention that the 15-year-old boy was arrested after two feminine witnesses contacted police.

They stated they’d listened to a dialog between the boy and an unknown particular person 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 shortly and punished with the complete drive of the regulation.

“The assault in Solingen is a horrible occasion that has shocked me drastically. An attacker has brutally killed a number of folks. I’ve simply spoken to Solingen’s mayor, Tim Kurzbach. We mourn the victims and stand by their households,” Mr Scholz stated on X.

German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier additionally spoke to Mr Kurzbach on Saturday morning.

“The heinous act in Solingen shocks me and our nation. We mourn these killed and fear about these injured and I want them power and a speedy restoration from all my coronary heart,” Mr Steinmeier stated in an announcement on Saturday.

“The perpetrator must be delivered to justice. Let’s stand collectively – towards hatred and violence.”

There was concern about elevated knife violence in Germany, and Ms Faeser not too long ago proposed toughening weapons legal guidelines to permit solely knives with a blade measuring as much as 6cm (practically 2.4in) to be carried in public, fairly than the size of 12cm (4.7in) that’s at the moment allowed.