Bavaria’s interior minister, Joachim Herrmann, said the suspect was a 17-year-old Afghan asylum seeker, and that he shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the attack.
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The attack on the train between the German towns of Treuchtlingen and Würzburg, comes only a few days after an attack in Nice – claimed by Isis – killed 84 people, among them at least 10 children.
People who knew the teen-who arrived in Germany about two years ago-say he was calm and quiet, visited a mosque “on special occasions”, but never showed signs of radical behavior.
A German top official says a 17-year-old Afghan asylum seeker shouted “Allahu akbar” (“God is great”) during an ax and knife attack on a train in southern Germany that injured five people.
The attack happened around 9.15pm (3.15am Singapore time Tuesday) on the train, which runs between Treuchlingen and Wuerzburg in Bavaria.
Lone-wolf attacks are a phenomenon confounding security officials across the globe trying to stem the influence of Islamic State and other terror groups. Authorities discovered a hand-painted ISIS flag in his room at his property, suggesting a possible case of bedroom radicalization, where people view extremist jihadi propaganda online.
Muhammad Riyad has been named as the 17-year-old Afghan refugee who left the busy commuter train looking like a “slaughterhouse” last night. It also reported that the attacker lightly wounded a local resident after fleeing the scene on foot, adding that he got about 500 m (1,640ft) away from the train before being shot.
The city’s immigration department said that it was providing assistance to the family following the attack in the southern city of Wuerzburg.
In later comments, the minister said a note, discovered on the train in the attacker’s possessions, indicated he may have been self-radicalized. The teenage son was not injured.
As well as the three critically injured victims, one other passenger is believed to have non life-threatening injuries, while others suffered minor injuries or shock.
Germany past year registered more than 1 million asylum seekers entering the country, including more than 150,000 Afghans.
German emergency services workers work in the area where a man with an ax attacked passengers on a train near the city of Wuerzburg, Germany, early July 19, 2016.
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Hermann told a German TV Station that he didn’t rule out the possibility that one of the victims could die in the attack. He was later sent to a psychiatric hospital.
