German prosecutors charge Solingen attack suspect with murder

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The attack took place in the Fronhof, a market square in the western German city where live bands were playing as part of a festival marking its 650th anniversary.

By DANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD FEBRUARY 28, 2025 17:12
 REUTERS/Karina Hessland) People attend a protest following a stabbing rampage in Solingen in which several individuals were killed and injured, as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visits a Social Democratic Party (SPD) election campaign rally, in Jena, Germany, August 27, 2024. (photo credit: REUTERS/Karina Hessland)

German prosecutors charged 26-year-old Issa Al H. with murder on Thursday in connection with the stabbing attack in Solingen in August, according to German media reports.

H., a Syrian national said to be a member of ISIS, has been charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and membership of a terrorist organization.

The attack took place in the Fronhof, a market square in the western German city where live bands were playing as part of a festival marking its 650th anniversary.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack but failed to provide evidence of a connection, the Associated Press reported. The terror group claimed the stabber targeted Christians “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.”

H. reportedly recorded a video pledging his allegiance to IS and sent it to a contact moments before the stabbings.

Police officers secure the area of an incident, after several individuals were killed on Friday night when a man randomly stabbed passers-by with a knife, at a city festival in Solingen, Germany, August 24, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/THILO SCHMUELGEN)

The attack occurred at an outdoor festival in western Germany in August 2024. Three people were killed and 10 were wounded.

Revenge for the Israel-Hamas war

After allegedly carrying out the attack, H. was said by prosecutors to have gone on the run - igniting a day-long manhunt, according to DW News.

Prosecutors believe H. had been targeted non-believers and was driven by a radical Islamist ideology.

Investigations were launched following H.’s arrest as he was reportedly slated for deportation to Bulgaria in 2023.

REUTERS contributed to this report.

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