The suspect held over the festival terror attack in Germany that killed three people on Friday night has been pictured and charged.
Syrian national Issa Al H was named as the man accused of carrying out a knife attack in the city of Solingen which left a 56-year-old woman and two men aged 56 and 67, dead.
The German prosecutor’s office today ordered the pre-trial detention of Al H, over ‘strong suspicions of belonging to a terrorist group abroad’ as well as of murder and attempted murder.
The 26-year-old suspect came from a home for refugees in Solingen that was searched on Saturday, North Rhine-Westphalia’s interior minister Herbert Reul said.
Der Spiegel magazine, citing unidentified security sources, said the suspect had moved to Germany late in 2022 and sought asylum.
He was seen today getting dragged to his arraignment at the Federal Supreme Court (BGH) in Karlsruhe, Germany, by federal police officers who took him to the southwestern courthouse via helicopter.
The attack occurred during a festival on Friday evening in the Fronhof, a market square, where live bands were playing to celebrate Solingen’s 650-year history. Mourners have made a makeshift memorial near the scene.
The Islamic State group described the man who carried out the attack as a ‘soldier of the Islamic State’ in a statement on its Telegram account on Saturday.
Syrian national Issa Al H was today named as the man suspected of carrying out a knife attack at a festival in Germany, which left a 56-year-old woman and two men aged 56 and 67, dead
The suspect (pictured, centre) was seen getting dragged to his arraignment at the Federal Supreme Court (BGH) in Karlsruhe, Germany, today by federal police officers
The suspect came from a home for refugees in Solingen that was searched on Saturday, North Rhine-Westphalia’s interior minister, Herbert Reul, said
The suspect was seen getting dragged to his arraignment at the Federal Supreme Court (BGH) in Karlsruhe, Germany, today by federal police officers, who took him to the southwestern courthouse via helicopter
A sign that reads: ‘We just wanted to celebrate, but then the death came’ is placed next to flowers and candles
The tragic incident, along with the militant group’s claim of responsibility, sparked concern among some politicians who urged enhanced security, tighter curbs on weapons, stiffer punishment for violent crimes, and limits to immigration.
The suspect turned himself in late on Saturday and admitted to the crime, Duesseldorf police and prosecutors said in a joint statement early on Sunday.
‘The involvement of this person is currently under intensive investigation,’ they said.
Friedrich Merz, a prominent politician who leads the opposition, centre-right CDU party, urged that the country stopped admitting further refugees from Syria and Afghanistan.
‘It’s enough!’ he said in a letter on his website.
On Sunday, the IS group posted two clips on its Telegram account of what it said was the attacker.
The first purportedly showed the masked man pledging allegiance to the Islamic State leader, and the second, in which his face was blurred, allegedly showed him speaking moments before the attack.
Forensic police inspect on early August 24, 2024 the area where at least three people were killed and several injured when a man attacked them with a knife on late August 23, 2024 in Solingen
An ambulance and police stand on August 24, 2024 near the scene where at least three people were killed and several injured
A placard reading ‘Why?’ among flowers and tributes placed on a sidewalk near the scene after a knife attack, in Solingen, Germany
Candles and flowers and the inscription ‘Why? You are not alone’ are pictured on late August 24, 2024 near the area where three people were killed and several injured
Forensic police inspect on August 24, 2024 the scene where at least three people were killed and several injured when a man attacked them with a knife on late August 23, 2024 in Solingen
It did not provide evidence for this assertion and details of the suspect’s possible membership of the group were not immediately known.
Hendrik Wuest, premier of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia where Solingen is located, on Saturday described the attack as an act of terror.
Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has said there have been around a dozen Islamist-motivated attacks since 2000. One of the biggest was in 2016, when a Tunisian drove a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 and injuring dozens.
‘The risk of jihadist-motivated acts of violence remains high. The Federal Republic of Germany remains a direct target of terrorist organizations,’ the BKA said in the report earlier this year.