Share

Explosion And Machete Attack Continue String Of Violence In Germany

The spokesman had no immediate information on the cause of the blast, which followed the killing of nine people by an 18-year-old gunman in Munich on Friday.

Advertisement

Twelve people were injured, three of them seriously.

The three-day open-air music festival had just opened in the area.

A police spokeswoman said at a press conference that the man is believed to have acted alone. And earlier Sunday, a 21-year-old Syrian asylum applicant killed a 45-year-old Polish woman after what police suspected was a personal dispute. His asylum application was rejected past year but he wasn’t deported because of the civil war in Syria, as is standard practice in Germany, Mr. Herrmann said.

Emergency workers and vehicles are seen following an explosion in the Southern German city of Ansbach on Sunday, 24 June, 2016. IS said it was also responsible for the attack by 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel.

Authorities investigating the axe rampage in Wuerzburg said the teen responsible was thought to be a “lone wolf” who was “inspired” by Islamic State without being a member of the network.

On Sunday, a man killed a pregnant woman with a machete in Reutlingen.

Asked whether the bomber might have links to the Islamic State group, Herrmann said that couldn’t be ruled out, though there was no concrete evidence for this yet. Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson was the scheduled performer.

Nevertheless, the drama sparked fresh jitters in a country still reeling from other deadly attacks on civilians in recent days.

Ansbach police could not immediately be reached for further comment.

The incidents happen as funerals were held for the victims of a mass shooting at a shopping center in Munich Friday.

After the Munich attack, Herrmann urged the German government to allow the country’s military to be deployed to support police during attacks.

Some witnesses declared to Reuters and local media in Germany that the attacker seemed to be out of his mind and even tried to run towards a police vehicle violently and with the machete still in hands.

Last year, more than 400,000 Syrians refugees arrived in Germany, and a lot of them already received asylum or are still waiting to achieve that status legally.

Advertisement

Rising reported from Berlin.

Police secure the area after an explosion in Ansbach near Nuremberg Germany