Germany knife attack: IS claims responsibility, calls it 'revenge' for 'Muslims in Palestine'

The Islamic State group on Saturday (Aug 24) claimed one of its members carried out the deadly attack in Germany in "revenge" for Muslims "in Palestine and everywhere".

"The perpetrator of the attack on a gathering of Christians in the city of Solingen in Germany yesterday was a soldier of the Islamic State" group, said a statement from the jihadists' Amaq news agency on the Telegram messaging app. The attack was carried out "in revenge for Muslims in Palestine and everywhere", the statementadded.

Earlier on Saturday, the German policedetained a 15-year-old teenager for thedeadly knife attack in the western city of Solingen, which killed three and injured others.

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The attack happened at 9:40 pm local time on Friday. Two men and one 56-year-old woman were left dead and eight were left injured, four of them critically. The weapon that may have beenused in the attack was recovered from a bin in Solingen city centre.

In a press briefing, police said they won’t rule out a “terrorist motive” and that the arrested individual was not being treated as prime accused. The teenager is believed to have known about the attack beforehand and still not reportingit to police.

“He is at this point only suspected of failing to report a crime,” said public prosecutor Markus Caspers.

A manhunt is still on as police try to establish who exactly carried out the stabbings.

Police earlier said the attacker especially targeted victims’ throats and the situation became “very hectic” after the stabbings. “Yes, attacks were very targeted at people's throats and necks,” the police confirmed.

Germany’s ChancellorOlaf Scholz, said he was "shocked" at the incident, saying he stood strong with victims andthe perpetrator must be caught quickly and "punished to the full extent of the law".

The main suspect is still at large as authorities try to find which direction the male assailant had fled in.

“Both victims and witnesses are currently being questioned. The police are currently searching for the perpetrator with a large team,” a police spokesperson said, urging the public to be vigilant and cautious.

Meanwhile, Herbert Reul, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state – Germany’s most populous region, cautioned that no speculations should be made over the background of the attacker.

“You don’t want to believe what you see here at the crime scene. It’s upsetting,” Reul said.

“Out of nowhere, someone stabs people indiscriminately. We can’t say anything about the person or the motive yet,” he said, acknowledging that the police had very few leads.

(With inputs from agencies)