A Syrian national is being held on suspicion of murder and membership in a terrorist organization in connection with the knife attack in Solingen, Germany that left three dead and eight wounded.
A judge at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe ordered that Issa Al H. be held pending further investigation and a possible indictment on Sunday.
Federal prosecutors say he holds the ideology of ISIS and was acting in accordance with those beliefs when he went on the stabbing spree at a “Festival of Diversity” celebrating the city’s 650th anniversary on August 23.
The 26-year-old is accused of stabbing people repeatedly from behind in the head and upper body during the attack.
The judge’s ruling came after the suspect, who was seeking asylum in Germany, turned himself in and confessed to the attack, police said.
Issa Al H., whose last name wasn’t released in line with German privacy rules, is also accused of attempted murder and serious bodily injury, prosecutors said.
He was taken from the police station in Solingen in handcuffs and leg shackles for the initial court appearance on Sunday.
According to a statement from the Office of the Federal Prosecutor, Issa Al H. “shares the ideology of the foreign terrorist organization Islamic State” and due to his “radical Islamic convictions” decided “to kill the largest possible number of those he considers unbelievers” at the festival.
On Saturday, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack saying on its news site that the attacker targeted Christians, and carried out the stabbings “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.”
Friday’s attack plunged the city of Solingen into shock and grief.
Solingen, a city of about 160,000 in North Rhine Westphalia, located about 17 miles east of Duesseldorf and famed for centuries for its blade production, was holding a “Festival of Diversity” to celebrate its 650 anniversary.
Police were made aware shortly after 9:30 p.m. on Friday that a man had stabbed several people on the city’s central square, the Fronhof.
‘Why?’
The festival, which was due to have run through Sunday, was cancelled as police looked for clues in the cordoned-off square.Instead, grief-stricken residents gathered to mourn the dead and injured, placing flowers and notes near the scene of the attack.
One sign, simply reading “Warum?” (“why” in German), was placed among the candles and teddy bears at a makeshift memorial near the scene.
Cord Boettcher, a merchant from the town, echoed the sign’s sentiment asking: “Why does something like this have to happen? It’s incomprehensible and it hurts.”
The attack comes as debate over immigration rages ahead of regional elections on September 1 in Germany’s Saxony and Thuringia regions.
Alternative für Deutschland, the political party that has made reducing immigration a key part of its platform over the years, is expected to perform well.
In June, Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised that the country would start deporting criminals from Afghanistan and Syria after an Afghan immigrant killed one police officer and injured several others in Manneheim.
ISIS declared its caliphate in large parts of Iraq and Syria around ten years ago but now holds no territorial control over any land.
The group has lost many prominent leaders and has not hit the headlines for some time, however, it continues to recruit members and claim responsibility for attacks around the world.
So far this year, it has claimed to have conducted operations in Iran and Russia which killed dozens of people.
