Latest News: German Police make second arrest over Solingen knife attack
Berlin, Aug 25 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) German Police made a second arrest over a deadly knife attack in the western German city of Solingen two days ago, a spokesperson from the police said. The arrest followed a police operation at a home for refugees in Solingen, the spokesperson said on Saturday, without providing more details on the individual or the connection to the incident, Xinhua news agency reported. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility on Saturday for the attack that killed three people and injured eight others. The police didn’t provide any immediate response to the claims. A 15-year-old teenager was arrested on Saturday morning. The Islamic State said in a statement on its Telegram account that the attack was carried out by one of its members “in revenge for Muslims in Palestine and everywhere”. It did not immediately provide any evidence for its assertion and it was not clear how close any relationship between the attacker and Islamic State was. Earlier, police in Germany had said they did not rule out a “terrorist motive” after the mass stabbing at a festival on Friday night. At a press briefing, police said they had detained a 15-year-old at his parents’ home in the early hours of Saturday in connection with the attack in Solingen, west Germany. But they added that he is not believed to be the prime suspect, who is still unknown. Public prosecutor Markus Caspers said of the 15-year-old: “He is at this point only suspected of failing to report a crime.” He added that the suspect was alleged to have spoken with the perpetrator “shortly before the crime”. He said that a “terrorist motive” could not be excluded, partly because the assailant did not appear to know his victims. A woman, 56, and two men, 56 and 67, all from the region, were killed in the attack on Friday night, authorities said. Police found at least one weapon that may have been used in the assault and are analysing it for DNA traces. They said they had not indicated in the run-up to the festival that there was a security threat. People began leaving flower bouquets and candles in tribute to the victims at the site of the attack in the centre of Solingen. Authorities set up a website for people to send in footage or information about the attack as well as a telephone hotline, and urged witnesses not to post relevant videos directly to social media. The assailant, who is still at large, used a knife to attack people apparently at random in a crowd of thousands gathered for a festival at the central square in Solingen on Friday night. The frenzied assault, which happened at a festival of diversity during celebrations to mark the city’s 650th anniversary, lasted only minutes, witnesses said. Germany’s Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, who has been under pressure to fight a rise in knife violence in cities, said on Saturday that he was “shocked” by the “terrible event” and stood with the terrorised city in mourning the victims. “I wish the injured a speedy recovery,” he said in a post on X. “The perpetrator must be caught quickly and punished to the full extent of the law.” The authorities have deployed a “large contingent”, including helicopters, to search for the male assailant who fled the scene, and established road checkpoints. A spokesperson said it remained unclear which direction he had fled in and what means of transport he used. “Both victims and witnesses are currently being questioned. The police are currently searching for the perpetrator with a large team,” the spokesperson said, urging the public to be vigilant and cautious. Herbert Reul, the Interior Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state — Germany’s most populous region, warned against speculation about the perpetrator’s background. “You don’t want to believe what you see here at the crime scene. It’s upsetting,” Reul said. “Out of nowhere, someone stabs people indiscriminately. We can’t say anything about the person or the motive yet,” he added, acknowledging that the police had very few leads. The mass stabbing happened at a festival that was supposed to run through to Sunday, drawing up to 25,000 people each day with a programme, that included live bands, cabaret acts, acrobats and entertainment for children. The rest of the festival has now been cancelled, as were weekend festivities in nearby towns. A police spokesperson said emergency services had received several calls at about 9.40 p.m. with witnesses reporting that “an unknown person armed with a knife wounded several people at random”. A large crowd had gathered around a stage with live music on the Fronhof market square in the city centre. Most of those injured are believed to have been attacked directly in front of the stage, the daily newspaper Bild reported, adding that the man appeared to target the throats of his victims. The authorities called on people to maintain calm as they left the city centre and witnesses said festivalgoers complied, avoiding a crush. On Saturday morning, armed police were guarding a security perimeter, with witnesses describing a “ghostly” atmosphere in the normally bustling shopping district. Solingen has about 160,000 inhabitants and is located near the bigger cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf. The Federal Health Minister, Karl Lauterbach, said he hoped “rescue teams can save the wounded who are still alive and that police can catch the cowardly and pathetic perpetrator”. The Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, said the “treacherous attack … shocked me deeply”. The Federal Interior Minister, Nancy Faeser, said security authorities were “doing everything they can to catch the perpetrator and determine the background to the attack”. Germany has experienced a series of knife attacks over the past 12 months, with Faeser pledging earlier this month to crack down on knife crime with a reformed weapons law. In May, German police shot and wounded a man who injured six people in a knife attack at a right-wing demonstration in the south-western city of Mannheim. Among the victims was a 29-year-old policeman who intervened and was fatally stabbed. –
