Terrorist militia Islamic State on Monday claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in southern Germany – the latest in a string of attacks that have shattered the country’s sense of calm and stoked tensions over accepting migrants. The attacker, a 27-year-old Syrian who had been denied asylum in Germany, might also have had a mental disorder. The man said the attack would be committed in the name of Allah as retaliation for the killing of Muslims.
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Two attacks came on Sunday – including a Syrian refugee who blew himself up in Ansbach.
The bomber, named in the German press as Mohammed Deleel, pledged allegiance to Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) before the attack on Sunday night, in which he killed himself and wounded 15 others.
The apartment of 21-year-old Antonia Kourtides in Ansbach is located just a few feet from the spot where a suicide bomber injured 15 people on Sunday night, when he detonated explosives in his backpack just outside a music festival.
The wave of violence has fueled criticism of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s welcoming stance toward immigrants, with the hashtag #Merkelsommer, or “Merkel summer”, circulating on social media.
Most of the immigrants entering Germany past year came through Bavaria, and Bavarian authorities have been particularly critical of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door policies.
He was most recently told on July 13 that he would be deported to Bulgaria.
Herrmann said the man’s request for asylum was rejected a year ago, but he was allowed to remain in Germany because of the strife in Syria.
Seidel, the mayor, said the man appeared to deliberately avoid security officials who were searching bags.
The unnamed man had repeatedly received psychiatric treatment, including twice for attempted suicide, authorities said.
“I understand that many people are anxious”, De Maizere said, “I can assure you that our rule of law is strong and remains strong”.
“Neither the identities of all people that have come to us, nor their mental and physical condition are clarified”, he criticized. The music festival and surrounding area were evacuated. The outlines of bodies in red bore the inscription “Migration Kills”.
Ansbach has a population of about 40,000 and is a major USA military garrison town, with around 5,000 members of the military living there along with civilians, contractors and retirees.
The explosion went off in the center of the city of Ansbach, not far from where more than 2,500 people had gathered for the concert, around 10pm.
Speaking at a press conference Monday, Hermann acknowledged it had been a “very bad week” in Bavaria.
He pointed out that “most people who commit Islamist acts of terror are also psychologically unstable”.
“It has been nearly nine years now that I am interior minister”. Yet traffic seemed to resume soon after that-even the cafe where Antonia and I met this past afternoon is full.
In Germany, there is a strong separation of powers between the federal and state governments.
Germany and Bavaria are on alert after nine were killed Friday in a deadly rampage at a shopping mall in Munich.
A suspected accomplice, who claimed to have known the attacker only in his capacity as a translator, was arrested early today. He said authorities had investigated 59 allegations of migrants tied to terror groups, most of which have turned up empty.
Charlotte Knobloch, the head of the Jewish community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, said in a statement that Germany will strive “to combat those who hate us for our values and want to destroy our freedom and democracy”. The woman was 45 and from Poland, police said.
Interior minister Thomas de Maiziere has ordered an increased security presence at airports, train stations and other public places following the bombing, which was the fourth attack to happen in Germany in a week.
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Munich authorities said Monday at a news conference that a 16-year-old Afghan friend of the Munich attacker may have known of the attack in advance.
