A suspect in German police custody following a stabbing rampage in the city of Solingen that killed three people and injured eight is a 26-year-old Syrian man, authorities have said, as they looked into his possible links with so-called Islamic State.
The incident, along with the militant group's claim of responsibility, sparked concern among some politicians who urged enhanced security, tighter curbs on weapons, stiffer punishment for violent crimes, and limits to immigration.
The attack occurred during a festival on Friday evening in a market square where live bands were playing to celebrate Solingen's 650-year history. Mourners made a makeshift memorial near the scene.
The suspect turned himself in late on Saturday and admitted to the crime, Duesseldorf police and prosecutors said in a joint statement early on Sunday.
German federal prosecutors identified the Syrian man as Issa Al H, omitting his family name because of German privacy laws, and said he was suspected of being a member of IS.
Prosecutors said "due to his radical Islamist convictions" he tried to kill as many people as possible that he considered to be non-believers, stabbing them repeatedly in the neck and upper body.
Friedrich Merz, a prominent politician who leads the opposition, centre-right CDU party, said the country should stop admitting further refugees from Syria and Afghanistan.
"It's enough!" he said in a letter on his website.
The suspect came from a home for refugees in Solingen that was searched yesterday, North Rhine-Westphalia's interior minister, Herbert Reul, said.
Der Spiegel magazine, citing unidentified security sources, said the suspect had moved to Germany late in 2022 and sought asylum.
The IS group described the man who carried out the attack as a "soldier of the Islamic State" in a statement on its Telegram account.
It did not provide evidence for this assertion and details of the suspect's possible membership of the group were not immediately known.
Hendrik Wuest, premier of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia where Solingen is located, described the attack as an act of terror.
Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has said there have been around a dozen Islamist-motivated attacks since 2000. One of the biggest was in 2016, when a Tunisian drove a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 and injuring dozens.
"The risk of jihadist-motivated acts of violence remains high. The Federal Republic of Germany remains a direct target of terrorist organisations," the BKA said in the report earlier this year.
