German police say Syrian suspect confesses to knife rampage

AFP | Solingen, Germany

The Daily Tribune - www.newsofbahrain.com   

German police said yesterday that a Syrian man has given himself up and confessed to killing three people and wounding eight others in a knife rampage at a street festival.

The random attack as thousands of people gathered on Friday night in the western city of Solingen has stunned Germany.

Two men aged 56 and 67 and a 56-year-old woman were killed, officials said.

Four of the wounded remained in a serious condition. All of the victims were stabbed in the neck, according to police.

Police said in a statement that the suspect was a 26-year-old Syrian who had “given himself up to authorities... and declared himself responsible for the attack”.

German prosecutors said they had launched a “terrorist” investigation.

According to the Bild and Spiegel newspapers, the suspect arrived in Germany in December 2022 and had a protected immigration status often given to those fleeing war-torn Syria.

The jihadist Islamic State group’s Amaq propaganda arm has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying “the perpetrator of the attack on a gathering of Christians” in Solingen “was a soldier of the Islamic State”.

IS said the attack was carried out as “revenge for Muslims in Palestine and everywhere”, in an apparent reference to the Gaza conflict.

The claim could not be immediately verified. German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said the suspect was not known to the security services as an extremist considered dangerous.

Habeck -- who called for tougher knife laws on Sunday -- said “Islamic terrorism” was one of “the biggest security dangers” Germany faces.