Bavaria’s top security official says a man who blew himself up after being turned away from an open-air musi.
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The Syrian suicide bomber who injured 15 people in a Sunday night attack on a music festival in Ansbach, Germany, left behind a video pledging allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said Monday. No group immediately claimed responsibility.
The incident last Monday was the first in a series of attacks that have shaken Germany over the past week. Authorities have now found a video in which the bomber pledged allegiance to ISIS.
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has ordered beefed up security at transportation hubs and elsewhere.
Police said the suicide bomber meant to target the open-air festival, but was turned away as he did not have a ticket, and detonated the device outside a nearby cafe.
Amaq News Agency reported that the July 24, 2016 suicide bombing in Ansbach was carried out by an IS fighter, SITE Intel Group website said.
Germans were shocked by sexual assaults of women blamed on immigrants at New Year’s Eve festivities in Cologne and other cities, and three Syrian men were arrested last month on suspicions they were planning to carry out a mass casualty attack in Dusseldorf. Despite criticism, Merkel has remained firm policy stance regarding refugees.
Joachim Herrmann, the state’s interior minister, said on Monday an initial translation of an Arabic-language video found on the 27-year-old’s phone showed he had planned a “revenge” attack against Germany.
In Sunday’s attack, the assailant detonated a backpack bomb near the entrance of the music festival in southern Germany after he was refused entry, officials said. More than 2,000 people were evacuated from the festival after the explosion, police said.
The city’s mayor, Carda Seidel, told reporters that an “explosive device” blew up in the city center but provided few other details.
Hermann said he is concerned “the right to asylum” is being placed in jeopardy by recent events involving refugees.
He had received two deportation notices and was told on July 13 he would be deported to Bulgaria. Asylum-seekers are routinely deported back to the first country where they registered if they don’t follow proper procedures, even if they’re considered to have a legitimate claim for asylum.
He was known to police in Ansbach for drug-related crimes and was reported to have twice attempted suicide.This is the second terror attack in Germany claimed by ISIS this week.
On Monday, German police raided a shelter for asylum seekers looking for any evidence that might assist in the investigation.
One resident there said he had occasionally drunk coffee with the attacker and they had discussed religion. Alireza Khodadadi told The Associated Press that the man, whom he would identify only as Mohammed, had told him that the extremist Islamic State group was not representative of Islam.
“Of course I would and will initiate appropriate amendments if they are necessary or if I think they are necessary, but only then”, he said. Today, de Maiziere announced increased security presence at airports, train stations and elsewhere in the wake of these latest attacks but urged people not to panic.
A picture is starting to emerge of the attacker, a rejected asylum seeker known for petty criminal offenses who was looking for a job.
Mr Herrmann said the spate of attacks raised serious questions about Germany’s asylum law and security nationwide.
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Investigators said the two teenagers got to know one another in 2015 as in-patients at a psychiatric ward.
