The suspect is a Syrian citizen who had applied for asylum in Germany, police confirmed to The Associated Press. On Saturday the Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, without providing evidence. The attack comes amid debate over immigration ahead of regional elections next Sunday in Germany's Saxony and Thueringia regions where anti-immigration parties such as the populist Alternative for Germany are expected to do well.
In June, Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed that the country would start deporting criminals from Afghanistan and Syria again after a knife attack by an Afghan immigrant left one police officer dead and four more people injured. The attack raised fears that Europe could face another wave of terror attacks.
On Saturday, a synagogue in France was targeted in an arson attack. French police said they made an arrest early Sunday. Friday's attack plunged the city of Solingen into shock and grief. The festival began Friday and was supposed to run through Sunday, with several stages in central streets offering attractions such as live music, cabaret and acrobatics. The attack took place in front of one stage. Instead residents gathered to mourn the dead and injured, placing flowers and notes near the scene of the attack.
Among those asking themselves the question was year-old Cord Boetther, a merchant fron Solingen. Officials had earlier said a year-old boy was arrested on suspicion he knew about the planned attack and failed to inform authorities, but that he was not the attacker. Two female witnesses told police they overheard the boy and an unknown person before the attack speaking about intentions that corresponded to the bloodshed, officials said.
People alerted police shortly after p. The three people killed were two men aged 67 and 56 and a year-old woman, authorities said. The IS militant group declared its caliphate in large parts of Iraq and Syria about a decade ago, but now holds no control over any land and has lost many prominent leaders. The group is mostly out of global news headlines. Still, it continues to recruit members and claim responsibility for deadly attacks around the world, including lethal operations in Iran and Russia earlier this year that killed dozens of people.
