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 mentioned on Sunday as they seemed into his doable 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 within the Fronhof, a market sq., the place reside bands had been enjoying to have fun Solingen’s 650-year historical past. Mourners have 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 mentioned in a joint assertion early on Sunday.
“The involvement of this individual is at present beneath intensive investigation,” they mentioned.
Friedrich Merz, a distinguished politician who leads the opposition, centre-right CDU occasion, urged that the nation stopped admitting additional refugees from Syria and Afghanistan.
“It is sufficient!” he mentioned 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, mentioned.
Der Spiegel journal, citing unidentified safety sources, mentioned the suspected had moved to Germany late in 2022 and sought asylum.
German federal prosecutors have taken over the case and are investigating whether or not the suspect was a member of Islamic State, a spokesperson for the prosecutors mentioned.
The 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 doable membership of the group weren’t instantly recognized.
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 Felony Police Workplace (BKA) has mentioned there have been round a dozen Islamist-motivated assaults since 2000. One of many greatest 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 mentioned within the report earlier this 12 months.
