Germany festival stabbings: Terror motives ‘cannot be ruled’ out as 15-year-old detained
Officials in Germany have said they cannot rule out “terrorist motives” following a stabbing at a festival which left three people dead – and revealed a 15-year-old has been detained in connection with the incident.
The teenager is suspected of failing “to report an imminent crime” but no more at the moment, police and prosecutors said at a news conference on Saturday afternoon. They are investigating the possibility he may have spoken to the attacker.
Prosecutor Markus Caspers said authorities are still looking into motives and searching for a male perpetrator, as a “large-scale” overnight manhunt involving several police forces and special units continues. There is no clear link between the people who were attacked, authorities said – one of the reasons why terrorism cannot be ruled out.
A 56-year-old woman and two men, aged 56 and 67, died following the attack. Eight people were injured, four seriously, while “many other people have suffered mental stress”.
Police were alerted by witnesses shortly after 9.30pm local time on Friday, to reports of several people being wounded in a central square, the Fronhof, during a community festival.
Tributes are being left at the scene. Pic: AP
Searches are still also under way at various locations in the entire state of North Rhine Westphalia, officers said, with federal forces also involved. “The investigation and manhunt for possible further perpetrators and reasons for the crime are in full swing,” they said.
Police officer Thorsten Fleiss, who was the chief of operations when the stabbings happened on Friday, said it had been a “big challenge” to bring together available evidence and testimony from witnesses in order to come up with an overall picture.
Earlier in the day, police issued a warning urging people to stay vigilant, even as well-wishers started to leave flowers at the scene. They have also urged people not to speculate about the attack.
DJ and music producer Topic, who was performing at the festival, said he was on stage and asked to continue performing “to avoid mass panic” as the incident unfolded.
Solingen has about 160,000 residents and is near the bigger city of Dusseldorf and Germany‘s border with the Netherlands.
Information about the identities of the victims has not yet been released.
The region’s top security official, Herbert Reul, who visited the scene in the early hours of Saturday, told reporters it was a targeted attack on human life but declined to speculate on the motive.
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The Festival of Diversity, marking the city’s 650th anniversary, began on Friday and was supposed to continue over the weekend, with several stages in central streets offering attractions such as live music, cabaret and acrobatics. It has now been cancelled.
Authorities have established an online portal for witnesses to upload footage and any other information relevant to the attack.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Saturday that the perpetrator must be caught and punished quickly.
“The attack in Solingen is a terrible event that has shocked me greatly,” he said. “An attacker has brutally killed several people.”
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World
Ukraine war: 14 killed as Russian missile and drone attacks strike Kyiv – including American citizen
Russian missile and drone attacks have killed 14 people in Kyiv overnight, according to Ukrainian officials.
A 62-year-old US citizen who suffered shrapnel wounds is among the dead.
At least 99 others were wounded in strikes that hollowed out a residential building and destroyed dozens of apartments.
Pic: AP
Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble.
Images show a firefighter was among those hurt, with injured residents evacuated from their homes.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as “one of the most terrifying attacks on Kyiv” – and said Russian forces had fired 440 drones and 32 missiles as civilians slept in their homes.
“[Putin] wants the war to go on,” he said. “It is troubling when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to it.”
Pic: AP
Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said 27 locations across the capital have been hit – including educational institutions and critical infrastructure.
He claimed the attack, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, was one of the largest on the capital since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Drones swarmed over the city, with an air raid alert remaining in force for seven hours.
One person was killed and 17 others injured as a result of separate Russian drone strikes in the port city of Odesa.
Pic: Reuters
It comes as the G7 summit in Canada continues, which Ukraine’s leader is expected to attend.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold talks with Donald Trump – but the president has announced he is unexpectedly returning to Washington because of tensions in the Middle East.
Ukraine’s foreign minister says Moscow’s decision to attack Kyiv during the summit is a signal of disrespect to the US.
Moscow has launched a record number of drones and missiles in recent weeks, and says the attacks are in retaliation for a Ukrainian operation that targeted warplanes in airbases deep within Russian territory.
Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko says fires broke out in two of the city’s districts as a result of debris from drones shot down by the nation’s air defences.
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Pic: AP
On X, Ukraine’s foreign ministry wrote: “Russia’s campaign of terror against civilians continues. Its war against Ukraine escalates with increased brutality.
“The only way to stop Russia is tighter pressure – through sanctions, more defence support for Ukraine, and limiting Russia’s ability to keep sowing war.”
Olena Lapyshnak, who lived in one of the destroyed buildings, said: “It’s horrible, it’s scary, in one moment there is no life. I can only curse the Russians, that’s all I can say. They shouldn’t exist in this world.”
World
Israeli tank shelling kills 51 people waiting for aid in Khan Younis, Hamas-run health ministry says
Israeli tank shellfire has killed at least 51 Palestinians in Khan Younis, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Hundreds of others have been injured, with “dozens of critical cases” arriving at a medical complex.
It is feared that the number of fatalities will rise.
Pic: Reuters
The strikes took place as people waited for United Nations and commercial aid trucks in the southern Gaza city.
Witnesses said that Israeli forces carried out an airstrike on a nearby home before opening fire toward the crowd.
“Emergency, intensive care, and operating rooms are experiencing severe overcrowding,” a statement said.
Officials say medical staff “are operating with limited supplies of life-saving medicines” – with the ministry renewing an “urgent appeal” to increase aid.
Pic: Reuters
Hours earlier, Donald Trump had joined other G7 leaders to call for a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza”.
The Israeli military is yet to comment on this incident.
On Monday, Gaza’s health ministry said at least 34 people were shot dead near food distribution centres.
This was the highest reported daily total since Israel and US-backed aid centres opened last month, with thousands of Palestinians moving through Israeli military-controlled areas to reach them.
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