Authorities have identified a 26-year-old man as the man responsible for a wave of deadly stabbings at a festival in Solingen, Germany, last week left three people dead and eight injured, including a Syrian citizen with possible links to the Islamic State.
Federal prosecutors in Germany identified the suspect as Issa Al H., withholding his last name due to German privacy laws.
Islamic State previously claimed responsibility, saying the attacker targeted Christians who carried out the attack “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.”
The Islamic State group described the man who carried out the attack as an “Islamic State soldier” in a statement on its Telegram account.
IS CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR GERMAN FESTIVAL ATTACK, SECOND SUSPECT ARRESTED
Police and ambulances are stationed near the scene of last week's stabbing in Germany. (Gianni Gattus/picture alliance via Getty Images)
North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul said Issa Al H. was living in a refugee home in Solinger before the attack.
Der Spiegel magazine, citing unnamed security sources, said the suspect had moved to Germany in late 2022 and had applied for asylum.
German right-wing candidate stabbed in latest attack before election
Following the fatal knife attack on August 23, Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for stricter immigration laws and increased deportations.
“We will have to do everything possible to ensure that those who cannot or are not allowed to stay in Germany are repatriated and deported,” Scholz said while visiting the scene of the stabbing.
“This was terrorism. Terrorism against all of us,” he said.
Police officers stand near a building in Solingen, Germany. (Gianni Gattus/dpa via AP)
The victims were standing in front of a stage enjoying a live band playing to mark the city's 650th anniversary when the attack occurred at around 9:35 p.m. local time on August 23.
The three people who died were two men aged 67 and 56 and a woman aged 56, according to authorities. Police said the attacker appeared to have deliberately targeted his victims' throats.
Police cordoned off the square and passers-by placed candles and flowers outside the barriers.
GERMAN POLICEMAN DIES AFTER STABBED BY AFGHAN IMMIGRANT
In a translated post on social media immediately after the attack, Solingen Mayor Tim Kurzbach said they are in “shock.” after the attack.
“Tonight we are all in Solingen shocked, scared and very sad,” she wrote. “We all wanted to celebrate the anniversary of our city together and now we have to mourn the dead and injured. It breaks my heart that there was an attack in our city.”
Paramedics and police are deployed near the scene where three people were killed and injured in a stabbing attack at a festival in Solingen, Germany, on August 23. (Gianni Gattus/dpa via AP)
Fatal stabbings and shootings are relatively rare in Germany. The government said earlier this month it wanted to tighten rules on knives that can be carried in public.
In May, an Afghan migrant A stabbing spree was committed in Mannheimin southwestern Germany, where he wounded an anti-Islam activist and several others, including a policeman who died. Days later, a member of the German right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD) was stabbed in the city while campaigning.
The violence comes ahead of three state elections next month in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg, which the anti-immigration mass right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD) is likely to win.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Although neither the motive nor the identity of the attacker is known, a leading AfD candidate for one of the regional elections, Bjoern Hoecke, took advantage of Friday's attack and posted on X: “Do you really want to get used to this? Break free and put an end to this madness of forced multiculturalism.”
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
