Terror hits Germany again
Syrian man who blew himself up close to the site of a music festival and injured 15 claims loyalty to the group in a video
German police block a street near a house where a Syrian, 27, lived before he blew himself up in a terror attack yesterday in Ansbach. A dozen people were injured when he detonated his bomb after being refused entry to a music festival.
ANSBACH // A Syrian man whose asylum request had been rejected in Germany recorded a video of himself pledging allegiance to ISIL before he tried to get into a music festival with a bomb-laden backpack. He was turned away and blew himself up outside a wine bar instead, injuring 15 people, authorities said yesterday.
The attack, which was claimed by ISIL, was the fourth to shake Germany in a week, and the third to be carried out by a recent migrant to the country.
The 27-year-old, identified by federal prosecutors as Mohammad D, set off a backpack laden with explosives and shrapnel on Sunday night after being refused entry to the festival in the Bavarian city of Ansbach because he did not have a ticket.
Bavarian authorities said a video found on the bomber’s phone showed him pledging allegiance to ISIL. German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere said it was too early to rule out terrorism as a motive, but noted that the suspect had twice attempted suicide and had been receiving psychological care.
“Or it could be a combination of both,” he said.
Claiming the attack, ISIL said one of their “soldiers” responded to calls by the group to target member countries of the US- led coalition fighting the extremists.
A 17-year-old Afghan asylum seeker injured five with an axe before being killed by police near Wuerzburg last week in an attack that was claimed by ISIL.
A day earlier, a Syrian asylum seeker killed a woman with a knife in the south-west city of Reutlingen before being captured by police in an incident that authorities said was not likely linked to terrorism.
In between those two attacks, the 18-year-old son of Iranian asylum seekers went on a rampage on Friday night at a Munich shopping centre, killing nine and wounding dozens. Authorities said he was receiving psychiatric treatment and had no known links to terrorism.
The attack in Ansbach, a city of about 40,000 west of Nuremberg, came near the end of the closing night of a popular openair festival being attended by about 2,000 people.
After the Munich shooting, city officials had ordered extra security at the entrance of the venue.
Roman Fertinger, the deputy police chief in Nuremberg, said there probably would have been more casualties if the man had not been turned away.
Four of the 15 victims suffered serious injuries.
“My personal view is that, unfortunately, it’s very likely this really was a suicide attack,” said Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann. Mr Herrmann said the man’s appeal for asylum was rejected a year ago, and a spokesman for Germany’s interior ministry said he had received two deportation notices.
Tobias Plate said the man was told on July 13 that he would be deported to Bulgaria, where he submitted his first asylum request.
Asylum seekers are routinely deported to the first country where they registered if they do not follow proper procedures, even if they are thought to have a legitimate claim for asylum.
The unidentified man had repeatedly received psychiatric treatment, including twice for attempted suicide, authorities said, and had been known to police for drug possession.
Yesterday, authorities raided the asylum shelter where he lived in the suburbs of Ansbach and searched his room.