MUNICH — The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a Friday night knife attack in Germany that killed three people.
Authorities are still searching for the attacker, who also injured eight others, six of them seriously, in the western German city of Solingen, where a celebration of the city’s anniversary had been taking place, officials said. Four of the six severely injured are still in life-threatening condition.
“We are all in shock, horror and great sadness in Solingen. We all wanted to celebrate our city’s anniversary together and now we have to mourn dead and injured people,” Mayor Tim Kurzbach said in a statement Friday night.
The Islamic State-run Amaq news agency released a statement Saturday saying the attacker targeted Christians and is a “soldier of the Islamic State” who carried out the attack “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.”
The manhunt is ongoing and multiple searches and investigations are being carried out, but so far police do not have a description, identity or a photo of the suspect to share.
A 15-year-old was detained Saturday morning in possible connection with the stabbing. Investigators do not believe at this time that he was the attacker but that he may have had prior knowledge of the attack. Two witnesses told police after the attack that the 15-year-old had a conversation with another person about plans for an attack.
Markus Röhrl, Wuppertal police president, said during a news conference Saturday that prior to the festival there was no concrete threat.
On Saturday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed shock at the killings, saying that he mourns the victims and underscored that “the perpetrator must be caught quickly and punished to the full extent of the law.”
“It breaks my heart that there was an attack on our city. I have tears in my eyes when I think of those we lost. I pray for everyone who is still fighting for their lives,” Kurzbach said.