German prosecutors on Thursday charged the suspect behind a fatal knife attack at a local festival in the western German city of Solingen.
The suspect, identified as 26-year-old Issa Al H., was charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and membership in the “Islamic State” (IS) terror group.
The Solingen knife attack and a series of similar incidents shook Germany and fueled the heated political debate about migration and deportation in the months leading up to last week’s federal election.
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What happened in Solingen? On the evening of August 23, 2024, three people were killed and 10 others injured at an outdoor festival celebrating Solingen’s 650th anniversary.
The suspect, a Syrian citizen, is accused of deliberately stabbing festival visitors with a knife.
Issa Al H. was arrested after a day-long manhunt. He has remained in custody ever since.
Within days of the stabbing rampage, prosecutors said they believed the attacker had radical Islamist beliefs and tried to kill as many people as possible because he considered them non-believers.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.
Who do we know about the Solingen knife attack suspect? Issa Al H. had been slated for deportation from Germany to Bulgaria in 2023 under EU rules known as the Dublin regulation.
But he evaded law enforcement and managed to remain in the country. No further effort to deport him was made.
A committee of inquiry in the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia is investigating why the deportation to Bulgaria, which had been planned long before the attack, did not take place.
Editor’s note: DW follows the German press code, which stresses the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected criminals or victims and urges us to refrain from revealing full names in such cases.
Edited by: Sean M. Sinico
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