“After that he announced in the name of Allah that he pledged allegiance to (IS chief) Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the well-known Islamist leader, and announced an act of revenge against Germans because they were standing in the way of Islam”.
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Ansbach prosecutor Michael Schrotberger said the attacker had suffered episodes of depression.
Apart from the bomber, no one died, but 15 people were injured, at least three of them severely. The attacker used a hatchet and a knife to injure four people on the train before being killed by police officers.
Herrmann told Reuters the recent attacks raised serious questions about Germany’s asylum law and security nationwide.
USA officials said no Americans were among the injured when a 27-year-old Syrian asylum-seeker blew himself up after being denied entry to a music festival because he didn’t have a ticket.
The recent violence has cast a shadow over Merkel’s open-door policies.
Violence has struck Germany in several places recently.
“Germany is an attractive country because it respects the dignity of every human being”, an educational film shown to newcomers said, “and it is supposed to stay that way”. One of his neighbors identified him as Mohammad Daleel.
Police said they were called to the building at 11am today. Police said there were no indications pointing to terrorism and the attacker appeared to have known the woman he killed.
The Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière has warned against “general suspicions” towards refugees, adding that it is too early to decide on eventual changes to Germany’s refugee policy.
Asylum-seekers are routinely deported to the first country where they registered if they do not follow proper procedures, even if they are considered to have a legitimate asylum claim. Officials said it was unclear why the deportation wasn’t carried out.
Authorities on Monday morning raided an asylum shelter in the suburbs of Ansbach.
In December the German parliament approved plans to join the military campaign against Islamic State in Syria in a mission that includes sending reconnaissance jets, a frigate, refuelling aircraft and military personnel. He asked Mahmood for advice on how to get a job at McDonald’s.
“Last year, we gave up control of our borders and instructed police not to check everything that should have been checked”, Wendt said in an interview on German broadcaster n-tv.
He did not have a ticket and had been denied entry into the concert, according to Herrmann.
“There is now no danger”, police said on Twitter.
The music festival and surrounding area were then evacuated.
Herrmann said his backpack contained screws and nails, an apparent attempt to inflict further damage.
Officials opened the crime scene Monday, revealing beer glasses abandoned at tables, playing cards flecked with blood and a chalk outline of where the bomber’s body was found.
Speaking at a press conference Monday, Hermann acknowledged it had been a “very awful week” in Bavaria.
An axe attack on a train near Wurzburg last Monday wounded five. At press time, four were still being treated in hospital.
Two days earlier, a German-Iranian man went on a deadly rampage at a Munich mall, killing nine people and leaving dozens wounded. Herrmann said that the man, who had lived in Germany since July of 2014, declared his allegiance to ISIS in the video. He said authorities had investigated 59 allegations of migrants tied to terror groups, most of which have turned up empty.
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Another Syrian refugee killed a pregnant woman and injured a man with a machete near the city of Reutlingen on Sunday.
