The Islamic State and the Attack in Solingen

Reports of a stabbing attack in Solingen in Germany and the arrest of a person of central Asian origin who had apparently known the attacker have prompted speculation about whether the attack had a connection with the Islamic State. The group is now tentatively claiming the attack through its Amaq News outlet, claiming that the attack was conducted by a “soldier” of the Islamic State principally in revenge for the Muslims of Palestine (probably alluding to German support for Israel amid the ongoing military campaign in Gaza) and elsewhere. The victims of the attack are, as with the Russia attacks earlier this year, framed as ‘Christians.’ The claim of an Islamic State connection at least in terms of the attacker’s allegiance to the Islamic State seems credible and will likely be followed by a further ‘official’ Islamic State claim and further Islamic State reports on the matter. Such materials on the attack will be posted and translated below.

(NB: For my colleague Peter Neumann’s German version of this post, see here).

Security source to Amaq Agency: the perpetrator of the attack on a group of the Christians in the town of Solingen in Germany yesterday is a soldier of the Islamic State and he carried out the attack in revenge for the Muslims in Palestine and every place.

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Update 24 August 2024: (Der Spiegel has reported on the identity of the attacker, who has turned out to be a Syrian refugee. I translate the relevant parts of the report here. Thanks to Moustafa Ayad for first drawing it to my attention):

Police arrest suspected Solingen attacker

Law-enforcement search success in North-Rhine Westphalia: According to Spiegel’s information, the suspected Solingen attacker has surrendered to the crew of a police vehicle. NRW Interior Minister Reul said a little later: we have the suspect, for whom we had been looking the entire day.

The suspected Solingen attacker has been caught. A little before 11 p.m., more than 24 hours after the attack, the Syrian Issa al H. surrendered on Saturday evening to a police vehicle, according to Spiegel’s information. His clothing was dirtied and blood-stained, according to security sources. North-Rhine Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul (Christian Democratic Union) confirmed the capture a little later on ARD’s ‘News of the Day.’

According to Spiegel’s information, the 26 year old Issa al H. was born in the Syrian city of Dayr al-Zur. He came to Germany at the end of December 2022 and lodged an asylum request in Bielefeld. A year later, he got so-called subsidiary protection, which those fleeing from countries mired in civil war often get. He is a Sunni Muslim. Up to this point, he was not known as an Islamist extremist to the security services, according to Spiegel’s information.

At an anniversary commemoration festival for the city of Solingen in Bergisch Land, the man had seemingly stabbed by-standers at random. He subsequently escaped amid the tumult and the initial panic. Two men aged 67 and 56, and a 56 year old woman died. Six people were seriously wounded, of whom four suffered life-threatening wounds.

31 years after the far-right arson attack on a house of a family of Turkish origin, Solingen is witnessing another trauma through an unbelievable act of violence. North-Rhine Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul (Christian Democratic Union) headed to the crime scene on that night. He said: “One does not want to accept what is seen here.”

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(Update: 25 August 2024)- more Amaq reporting about the attacker, including an exclusive photo, indicating that he was in contact with Islamic State media. This confirms the reliability of the Islamic State connection.