Germany Knife Attack: Syrian Man, ISIS Claim Responsibility

Facts

• A 26-year-old Syrian asylum-seeker surrendered to German police on Saturday, claiming to be the attacker behind the Solingen festival knife attack on Friday night. A 15-year-old had already been arrested in connection with the attack, which killed three and injured eight people.^[1]
• The German federal prosecutors are investigating if the Syrian national was a member of a foreign terrorist organization and planning to bring suspicion of murder and attempted murder charges against him.^[2]
• This comes after the Islamic State militant group claimed that their 'soldier' targeted Christians 'to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.' However, it offered no evidence to support its claim.^[3]
• According to the police, the attacker turned on the crowds at the Fronhof market square, where live bands had been performing to celebrate the city's 650th anniversary. The man reportedly stabbed victims in the neck at random before escaping.^[4][5]
• Friday's attack comes three months after a police officer was killed and five people were injured in a knife attack at a rally in the city of Mannheim.^[6]
• Fatal stabbings are relatively rare in Germany. However, the country recorded 8,951 incidents of knife crime last year — 791 cases more than in 2022.^[7][8]

Sources: ^[1]Sky News, ^[2]Independent, ^[3]NBC, ^[4]Reuters, ^[5]BBC News, ^[6]New York Times, ^[7]CNN and ^[8]Al Jazeera.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by CBS and Daily Mail. Once rare, knife attacks have become routine in Germany. It shows that the government's promise to toughen weapons laws and crack down on knife crime remains unfulfilled. Until knives — of any length — are banned in public spaces and Germany stops tolerating religious extremists nonchalantly targeting its democratic fabric, such terrible incidents will continue to claim innocent lives.
• Narrative B, as provided by The National and New York Times. It's unfair to use Friday's knife attack to settle political scores and compound pressure on the government. While an act of brutal and senseless violence has struck the city at its heart, authorities are treating the deadly stabbing as terrorism. They will grill the suspects and find the motive for the attack even though collecting the evidence and testimony from witnesses is a big challenge.

Predictions