Suspected Islamic extremist charged over deadly German knife attack

Germany’s top prosecutor has charged a suspected Islamic extremist with murder, attempted murder and membership in a terrorist organisation abroad in connection with a deadly knife attack last year at a festival in the western German city of Solingen.

The August 24 violence left three dead and 10 wounded at a festival marking the city’s 650th anniversary.

Prosecutors previously said the alleged perpetrator shared the radical ideology of the so-called Islamic State extremist group — and was acting on those beliefs when he stabbed his victims repeatedly from behind in the head and upper body.

IS later claimed responsibility for the attack, without providing evidence. IS previously said on its news site that the attacker targeted Christians, and that the perpetrator carried out the assaults “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.”

The suspect was only identified as Issa Al H in accordance with German privacy rules. He turned himself in after the attack.

The federal prosecutor filed the charges Monday and announced them Thursday in a news release.

Issa Al H allegedly took an oath of allegiance to IS and announced his plan in a video sent to his IS contact, then travelled to the festival minutes later, the federal prosecutor said in a statement.

He allegedly viewed the festival-goers as infidels and representatives of Western society upon whom he would seek revenge for military acts by Western states, the federal prosecutor said. His IS contact promised that the militant group would claim responsibility for the act and use it in their propaganda.

Issa Al H is a Syrian citizen who had applied for asylum in Germany. He was supposed to be deported to Bulgaria last year but reportedly disappeared for a time and avoided deportation.

The Solingen attack prompted chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government to announced new restrictions on knives and measures to make deportations easier.

Days later, the government deported Afghan nationals to their homeland for the first time since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, following up on a pledge made in June.

Migration was a major campaign issue during Germany’s national election on Sunday, pushed to the forefront by five deadly attacks — including in Solingen — involving immigrants over the past nine months.

IS 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. Its sleeper cells in Syria and Iraq still carry out attacks on government forces in both countries as well as US-backed Syrian fighters.