UPDATE: The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a knife attack in Solingen, Germany, that killed three people on the night of August 20, 2024. The attack, which occurred in the western part of the city, has sparked fear and concern across the region. German authorities are investigating the incident, focusing on the assailant’s connections and motives. The situation underscores the ongoing threat of terrorism in Europe.
One day after the mass stabbing perpetrated with a knife that caused three deaths and eight injured -four of them very seriously- at a festival in Solingen, western Germany, there are many unknowns about this multiple attack that has shocked the country and whose investigation is still ongoing.
Almost 100 Attacks Against Christians Registered in Germany in 2017 – Report
The events occurred on Friday at around 21.40 p.m. local time (the same time in mainland Spain), in the historic center of Solingen, and near one of the stages where a concert was being held as part of the “Festival of Diversity,” which commemorated the 650th anniversary of the city, with a population of about 160,000 inhabitants.
According to Wuppertal police spokesman Sascha Kresta, the attacker “stabbed people at random” and deliberately tried to wound the victims in the neck area. He then managed to flee amid the chaos that ensued.
he festival, which was scheduled to last until Sunday, had to be suspended immediately, while an extensive police operation was deployed to search for the attacker and people were asked to avoid the city center and stay indoors.
BREAKING: ISIS claims responsibility for deadly mass stabbing attack in Germanyhttps://t.co/x05YLQoOCm
— Human Events (@HumanEvents) August 24, 2024
This Saturday, German police arrested a 15-year-old boy for his possible connection to the attack. According to the director of the police operation, Thorsten Fleiss, at a press conference, the teenager is suspected of having had prior knowledge of the event and of not having acted to prevent it.
The detainee, who was apprehended during Saturday morning at the family home, was identified thanks to the testimony of two people who overheard a suspicious conversation before the event and who, after the attack, contacted the police. Apparently, they saw him talking to an individual who could be the material author of the stabbings, minutes before the attack.
“We only know that he spoke to one person, whether that person is the attacker we do not know for sure,” said at the same press conference the prosecutor responsible for counter-terrorism in the region of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Markus Caspers.
Despite the arrest of this young man, investigators believe that he is not the attacker, who remains at large and is thought to have acted alone.
The prosecutor has declined to offer a description of the alleged perpetrator of the attack, due to the conflicting testimonies that have been collected and the little clarity that has been achieved so far in the case.
As this was a massive and random attack, the authorities are working on the hypothesis of an attack and it cannot be excluded that the attack was a terrorist act.
“There is no other apparent motive. The victims were strangers, no relation. That is why we think it is possible that it is a terrorist act,” he said.
For his part, the director of the police operation also supported this hypothesis by confirming, in response to questions from the press, that according to the images of the attack, the knives were aimed “very precisely” at the necks of the victims.
The mass stabbing that took place yesterday in Germany, and the terrorist attack against a synagogue today in France, were expected!
7 years ago, the UAE Foreign Minister warned the West about the danger of Islamists invading Europe. pic.twitter.com/qrsaanpqID
— Dr. Maalouf (@realMaalouf) August 24, 2024
Police officials also released the ages of the fatalities on Saturday, one day after the attack. The deceased are two men aged 56 and 67 and a 56-year-old woman.
Eight people were injured in the attack, of whom four are in critical condition, two seriously and two slightly.
One of the most shocking testimonies is that of Topic, a German DJ who was performing on one of the stages when the attack took place, who has explained through his Instagram account how those difficult moments were experienced. According to the artist, the police would have asked him to keep playing to “avoid causing mass panic, as there were people dead from stabbings.” “I kept playing, even though it was incredibly difficult,” he has stated.
Separately, a municipal policeman was injured Saturday in an attack on a synagogue in the town of La Grand Motte (southern France, near Montpellier), the authorities announced.
Several dead and wounded in stabbing attack in Germany
Two vehicles were set on fire near the Beth Yaacov synagogue, one of them with a gas canister, which caused an explosion that injured the officer, who was taken to a hospital, although initial reports indicate that he is not seriously injured.
-Thailand News (TN)
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