The Islamic State (ISIS) has released a video featuring a Syrian refugee who carried out a stabbing attack in Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The video, published by the “Amaq” agency, shows the attacker brandishing a weapon and pledging allegiance to “Abu Hafs al-Hashemi,” while issuing threats against those he referred to as “Crusaders.”
The video also includes a separate clip of the attacker, face covered, bidding farewell to his family just meters from the attack site.
Last Saturday, ISIS claimed responsibility for the stabbing, stating it was an act of “revenge for Muslims in Palestine, Iraq, Syria, and other Muslim countries.” The group claimed that one of its fighters killed three people and injured eight others during the attack at the “Diversity” festival in Solingen.
More than 24 hours after the incident, the suspect, identified as 26-year-old Issa Al-H, a Syrian refugee from Deir-ez-Zor, surrendered to German police. He arrived in Germany in December 2022 and applied for asylum in Bielefeld. Although his asylum application was rejected, he had been granted secondary protection. According to reports, he was a Sunni Muslim with no prior record of extremism with the authorities. He was scheduled to be deported to Bulgaria under the Dublin regulations, which require asylum seekers to apply in the first EU country they enter.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
