SOLINGEN: German police said on Sunday 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".
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 IS group has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying "the perpetrator of the attack on a gathering" in Solingen "was a soldier of the IS".
German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck said the suspect was not known to the security services as an extremist considered dangerous.
The German prosecutor's office on Sunday ordered the pre-trial detention of the suspected perpetrator of a deadly knife attack in Solingen, suspecting him of belonging to a "terrorist group".
The arrest warrant says that the suspect identified as "Syrian national Issa Al H" will be detained over "strong suspicions of belonging to a terrorist group abroad" as well as of murder and attempted murder.
The attack took place as thousands of people gathered for the first night of a "Festival of Diversity", part of a series of events to mark Solingen's 650th anniversary. The whole festival has now been cancelled.
Witness Lars Breitzke told the Solinger Tageblatt newspaper he was near the attack, close to the main stage, and "understood from the expression on the singer's face that something was wrong".
German officers indicated on Sunday that a suspect arrested a day before at a raid at a hostel for asylum-seekers, not far from the scene of the attack, was being considered a "witness".
National and local leaders, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said the country had been "deeply shocked" by the deaths in Solingen, a city of 160,000 people. — AFP
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