German Chancellor Olaf Scholz Visits Solingen Following Deadly Knife Attack Linked to Islamic State

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit the city of Solingen on Monday, where a Syrian man with suspected ties to the Islamic State (IS) group allegedly carried out a deadly knife attack. The incident, which occurred at a local street festival on Friday, resulted in the deaths of three people and left eight others injured, sending shockwaves across Germany and reigniting a heated debate about immigration just days before crucial regional elections.

Assailant surrendered

The assailant, a 26-year-old Syrian named Issa Al H., surrendered to authorities late Saturday after spending a day on the run. According to the police, he confessed to the attack, which has since been taken over by German anti-terrorism prosecutors. Issa Al H. is now in custody, facing charges of murder, attempted murder, and association with a terrorist group.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack through a statement issued on Saturday via its Amaq news agency on the Telegram messaging platform. The group asserted that one of its members had carried out the attack as “revenge” for Muslims “in Palestine and everywhere.” However, this claim has not yet been independently verified.

According to German media outlets Bild and Spiegel, the suspect arrived in Germany in December 2022 and was granted protected immigration status, which is often given to individuals fleeing conflict-ridden Syria. German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck noted that the suspect was not previously known to security services as a potentially dangerous extremist.

Attack heightened tensions

The attack has heightened tensions in Germany, which has been on high alert for Islamist terrorism since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on October 7, following Hamas’ assault on Israel. Germany has experienced several Islamist-inspired attacks in recent years, with the most devastating being the 2016 truck attack at a Berlin Christmas market that killed 12 people.

Solingen, a city of approximately 160,000 residents situated between Düsseldorf and Cologne, had been hosting a “Festival of Diversity” as part of the city’s 650th-anniversary celebrations when the attack occurred. The festival, which attracted thousands of attendees on Friday, was promptly canceled in the aftermath of the tragedy.

Chancellor Scholz is expected to pay tribute to the victims during his visit to Solingen on Monday morning. The city has been in mourning, with flowers, candles, and messages of condolence lining the streets since Friday night.

Attack sparks debate

The attack has sparked a renewed debate over immigration policies in Germany, the European Union’s most populous country. The timing is particularly significant, as regional elections in Saxony and Thuringia—two states in the former East Germany—are scheduled for next weekend. The far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has been gaining momentum in recent elections, has seized on the incident to criticize the government’s immigration policies. The AfD has accused successive governments of creating “chaos” by admitting too many immigrants.

In the wake of the attack, Friedrich Merz, leader of the main opposition conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, has called on the government to halt the acceptance of refugees from Syria and Afghanistan. This demand comes amid growing pressure on Scholz’s government to resume deportations to these countries after a years-long suspension.

The debate over deportations had already intensified earlier this year following an incident in May, where a 25-year-old Afghan man fatally stabbed a police officer in Mannheim during an anti-Islam rally. Members of Scholz’s ruling coalition have since advocated for stricter deportation rules.

Germany’s history with immigration remains a contentious issue. The country took in over a million asylum seekers during the 2015-2016 migrant crisis, a deeply polarizing decision that contributed to the rise of the AfD as a significant political force. As Germany grapples with the aftermath of the Solingen attack, the country once again finds itself at a crossroads in its approach to immigration and national security.

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