By Tom Sims and Rene Wagner
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -A suspect in German police custody following a stabbing rampage within the metropolis of Solingen that killed three individuals and injured eight is a 26-year-old Syrian man, authorities stated on Sunday as they appeared into his potential hyperlinks with Islamic State.
The incident, together with the militant group’s declare of accountability, sparked concern amongst some politicians who urged enhanced safety, tighter curbs on weapons, stiffer punishment for violent crimes, and limits to immigration.
The assault occurred throughout a competition on Friday night in a market sq. the place stay bands have been enjoying to have fun Solingen’s 650-year historical past. Mourners made a makeshift memorial close to the scene.
The suspect turned himself in late on Saturday and admitted to the crime, Duesseldorf police and prosecutors stated in a joint assertion early on Sunday.
German federal prosecutors recognized the Syrian man as Issa Al H., omitting his household title due to German privateness legal guidelines, and stated he was suspected of being a member of Islamic State.
Prosecutors stated “attributable to his radical Islamist convictions” he tried to kill as many individuals as potential that he thought-about to be non-believers, stabbing them repeatedly within the neck and higher physique.
Friedrich Merz, a outstanding politician who leads the opposition, centre-right CDU celebration, stated the nation ought to cease admitting additional refugees from Syria and Afghanistan.
“It is sufficient!” he stated in a letter on his web site.
The suspect got here from a house for refugees in Solingen that was searched on Saturday, North Rhine-Westphalia’s inside minister, Herbert Reul, stated.
Der Spiegel journal, citing unidentified safety sources, stated the suspect had moved to Germany late in 2022 and sought asylum.
The Islamic State group described the person who carried out the assault as a “soldier of the Islamic State” in a press release on its Telegram account on Saturday.
It didn’t present proof for this assertion and particulars of the suspect’s potential membership of the group weren’t instantly identified.
Hendrik Wuest, premier of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia the place Solingen is positioned, on Saturday described the assault as an act of terror.
Germany’s Federal Prison Police Workplace (BKA) has stated there have been round a dozen Islamist-motivated assaults since 2000. One of many largest was in 2016, when a Tunisian drove a truck right into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 and injuring dozens.
“The chance of jihadist-motivated acts of violence stays excessive. The Federal Republic of Germany stays a direct goal of terrorist organizations,” the BKA stated within the report earlier this 12 months.