Amaq reported that an “insider source” said the attacker “carried out the operation in response to calls to target countries of the coalition that fights Islamic State”. The bomber, who has not been named, was killed.
Advertisement
“I think that after this video there’s no doubt that the attack was a terrorist attack with an Islamist background”, said Mr Hermann.
In a press conference Monday, Ansbach’s mayor Carda Seidel said that 15 people affected by the explosion do not have life-threatening injuries and are expected to fully recover. Concerns had died down as the flood of newcomers has slowed dramatically, but the recent attacks have rekindled the debate over how Germany can best cope with the numbers. On Sunday another Syrian refugee killed a woman with a machete in neighbouring Baden-Württemberg. We need a “farewell culture”, Schuster said, referring to German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s announcement previous year that Germany would foster a “welcoming culture” for migrants.
But Mayer told the BBC that the 1.1 million migrants and refugees Germany let in past year represented a “big challenge” for law enforcement, even as the influx has dwindled in recent months.
He lived in a old hotel that was converted into a refugee shelter.
Mahmood said he had spoken several times with Daleel and had never had any problems with him.
He was generally a “friendly and happy” person, Mahmood said.
He said he last saw Daleel early Saturday, after Mahmood had returned from his late work shift at a McDonald’s.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the deportation to Bulgaria had been suspended because of his “psychological instability”.
It could be “a combination of both”, he added. However, police said he had no extremist profile. Registered asylum seekers were estimated to exceed 1 million. Daleel was a little anxious about being sent back to Bulgaria, Mahmood said, but didn’t seem overly concerned or stressed.
A source told The Mirror that Daleel may have accidentally blown himself up. He asked Mahmood for advice on how to get a job at McDonald’s.
A video made by the assailant was found on his mobile phone in which he threatened an attack.
The attack that took place on Sunday outside a music festival in Ansbach, a town of 40,000 people southwest of Nuremberg, was the fourth act of violence by men of Middle Eastern or Asian origin against German civilians in a week.
But bouncers refused Deleel entry because he did not have a ticket. About 2,500 people were attending a music festival.
Herrmann said the attacker’s backpack contained screws and nails in an apparent bid to inflict widespread damage. “The majority of these refugees are coming to us because they are unsafe”. There are three military installations in the Ansbach area, according to the garrison’s website.
“It all appeared to be going pretty well for Merkel but the situation has changed dramatically in the 10 days between the Nice attack and Sunday’s suicide bomber in Ansbach”, the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung wrote, referring to attacks in France and Germany claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.
Speaking at a press conference Monday, Hermann acknowledged it had been a “very bad week” in Bavaria. “When I heard it was him, I was thinking: How could he do this?”
The deadliest attack came Friday night in Munich.
The “policy of open borders can not be tolerated any more”, he said, adding that terrorists were “using the [refugee] routes to enter Germany”.
In the other attack, a 17-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker wounded five people with an ax before being killed by police near the Bavarian city of Wuerzburg.
Advertisement
Meanwhile police released more details on Munich mall attacker David Ali Sonboly, saying the 18-year-old was depressed and had spent two months in a psychiatric unit last year. Authorities said his asylum application was rejected and he was twice ordered to be deported to Bulgaria.
