Prosecutors say Germany attack suspect driven by Islamic State ideology as terror shakes country

A Syrian man was ordered to be held on Sunday on suspicion of murder and membership in a terrorist organization following a knife attack in Solingen that resulted in three deaths and eight injuries during a festival celebrating the city’s 650th anniversary.

A judge at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe ordered 26-year-old Issa Al H. to remain in custody pending further investigation and possible charges. Federal prosecutors stated that he adhered to the radical ideology of the Islamic State group and acted on those beliefs by repeatedly stabbing his victims in the head and upper body from behind.

The ruling followed the suspect’s surrender to police, where he confessed to carrying out the attack. He is also under suspicion of attempted murder and causing serious bodily harm. His surname was not disclosed in accordance with German privacy laws.

On Sunday, the suspect, restrained with handcuffs and leg shackles, was transported from the Solingen police station for his initial court appearance.

The Office of the Federal Prosecutor stated that he “shares the ideology of the foreign terrorist organization Islamic State” and, based on his “radical Islamic convictions,” decided to “kill as many people as possible whom he considered unbelievers” at the festival.

The suspect is a Syrian national who had sought asylum in Germany, police confirmed to The Associated Press. According to the dpa news agency, his asylum request had been denied, and he was scheduled for deportation last year.

On Saturday, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, though no evidence was provided. The group stated on its news site that the attacker specifically targeted Christians and that the assault was carried out to “avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.”

The incident has intensified the ongoing debate over immigration ahead of regional elections on September 1 in Germany’s Saxony and Thuringia regions, where anti-immigration parties like the populist Alternative for Germany are expected to perform well. In June, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany would resume deporting criminals from Afghanistan and Syria following a knife attack by an Afghan immigrant that left a police officer dead and four others injured.

Friday’s attack has left Solingen, a city of around 160,000 residents near Cologne and Düsseldorf, in a state of shock and mourning. The city was hosting a “Festival of Diversity” in honor of its anniversary.

At around 9:30 p.m. local time on Friday, police were alerted to reports of a man attacking several people with a knife in the city’s central square, the Fronhof. Authorities identified the three victims as two men, aged 56 and 67, and a 56-year-old woman. Police noted that the attacker seemed to deliberately target his victims’ throats.

The festival, which was scheduled to continue through Sunday, was canceled as police cordoned off the square to search for evidence. Instead, residents gathered to mourn the victims, leaving flowers and notes near the site of the attack.

One sign, placed among candles and teddy bears, simply asked, “Warum?” — meaning “Why?”

Among those grappling with this question was 62-year-old Cord Boetther, a merchant from Solingen.

“Why does something like this have to happen? It’s incomprehensible, and it hurts,” Boetther said.

The Islamic State group, which declared its caliphate across large areas of Iraq and Syria nearly a decade ago, no longer controls any territory and has lost many of its leaders. However, it continues to recruit followers and claim responsibility for deadly attacks worldwide, including recent operations in Iran and Russia that resulted in dozens of casualties. The group’s sleeper cells in Syria and Iraq still carry out attacks on government forces in both countries, and on U.S.-backed Syrian fighters.

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David McHugh contributed from Frankfurt.