A 26-year-old man has turned himself in to police and claimed responsibility for a knife attack in Solingen that left three people dead and eight injured during a festival marking the city’s 650th anniversary, German authorities announced Sunday morning. Düsseldorf police said in a joint statement with prosecutors that the man “claimed responsibility for the attack.” “This person’s involvement in the crime is being intensively investigated,” the statement said.
The suspect is a Syrian citizen who had sought asylum in Germany, police confirmed to The Associated Press. On Saturday, the Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, without providing evidence. The extremist group said on its news site that the attacker targeted Christians and carried out the attacks Friday night “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.” The claim could not be independently verified.
The attack comes amid a debate over immigration ahead of regional elections next Sunday in the German regions of Saxony and Thuringia, where anti-immigration parties such as the populist Alternative for Germany are expected to do well. In June, Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised the country would start deporting criminals from Afghanistan and Syria again after an Afghan migrant went on a knife attack that left a police officer dead and four people injured.
On Saturday, a synagogue in France was set on fire. French police said they had made an arrest on Sunday morning. Friday’s attack plunged the city of Solingen, a town of about 160,000 people located near the larger cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf, into shock and grief as it celebrated its anniversary with a “Festival of Diversity.”
The festival began on Friday and was due to run until Sunday, with several stages in central streets offering attractions such as live music, cabaret and acrobatics. The attack occurred in front of one of the stages.
The festival was cancelled as police searched for clues in the cordoned-off square. Instead, residents gathered to mourn the dead and injured, placing flowers and notes near the site of the attack. “Warum?” asked a sign placed among candles and teddy bears. Why? Among those asking this question was Cord Boetther, a 62-year-old businessman from Solingen. “Why does something like this have to be done? It’s incomprehensible and it hurts,” Boettcher said.
Authorities had previously said a 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion that he knew about the planned attack and did not inform authorities, but that he was not the attacker. Two female witnesses told police they had heard the boy and an unknown person before the attack talking about intentions that included bloodshed, authorities said.
Shortly after 9.30pm local time on Friday, police alerted residents that a man had attacked several people with a knife in the city’s central square, the Fronhof. The three people killed were two men aged 67 and 56 and a 56-year-old woman, according to authorities. Police said the attacker appeared to have deliberately targeted his victims’ throats.
The militant group IS declared its caliphate in large parts of Iraq and Syria about a decade ago, but now has no control over any territory and has lost many prominent leaders. The group is largely out of the international news headlines.
“Yet it continues to recruit members and claim responsibility for deadly attacks around the world, including lethal operations in Iran and Russia earlier this year that killed dozens of people. Its sleeper cells in Syria and Iraq continue to carry out attacks against government forces in both countries, as well as against U.S.-backed Syrian fighters.”
(With contributions from the agency)
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