Nation on edge
IS attacker: Germans ‘won’t be able to sleep peacefully’
ANSBACH, Germany — A Syrian man who tried unsuccessfully to claim asylum in Germany pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and vowed that the nation’s people “won’t be able to sleep peacefully anymore” in a cellphone video before blowing himself up outside a wine bar, wounding 15 people, authorities said Monday.
The assailant set off a backpack laden with explosives and shrapnel Sunday night after being refused entry to a crowded music festival in the Bavarian city of Ansbach because he didn’t have a ticket.
It was the fourth attack to shake Germany in a week, and the second claimed by IS. Three of the attacks were carried out by recent immigrants, rekindling concerns about Germany’s ability to cope with the estimated 1 million migrants registered entering the country last year.
Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said a laptop with extremist videos was found at the apartment of the suspect, a 27-year-old Syrian identified only as Mohammad D. in line with German privacy laws. A video on his cellphone showed him declaring loyalty to IS and announcing a “revenge act against Germans because they are standing in the way of Islam.”
The suspect came to Germany two years ago and applied for asylum in August 2014, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said. He had already registered in Bulgaria and later in Austria, so Germany rejected his request and ordered him deported to Bulgaria — most recently on July 13.
De Maiziere said the man had tried to take his own life twice before in Germany, and had been in psychiatric care.
Sunday’s attack culminated a week of violent assaults. On July 18, a 17-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker wounded five people with an ax before being killed by police near the Bavarian city of Wuerzburg in an attack that was claimed by IS.
On Friday, the 18-year-old son of Iranian immigrants went on a rampage at a Munich mall, killing nine people and wounding dozens. Authorities say he was undergoing psychiatric treatment and had no known links to terrorism.
And on Sunday, hours before the Ansbach attack, a Syrian man killed a woman with a knife in the southwestern city of Reutlingen before being captured by police in an incident authorities say was not believed linked to terrorism.
“Naturally people are concerned and are questioning whether they should change their routines,” de Maiziere said. “We should not . ... We should continue to live our free lives.” Still, he said he ordered an increased security presence at airports, train stations and elsewhere.
In Munich, authorities said Monday that a 16-year-old Afghan friend of the gunman who carried out the mall attack may have known of the assailant’s plan in advance. The teen was taken into custody late Sunday for questioning after police said they were able to retrieve a deleted chat on WhatsApp that appeared to show that the 16-year-old met with the attacker immediately before the shooting started, and knew that he had a pistol.