- Alleged Solingen bombers are featured in an ISIS-released video
Two days following the deadly stabbing incident in Solingen, the militant group of the Islamic State (IS) released a video, supposedly featuring the perpetrator. The brief, approximately one-minute clip showcases a masked individual, appearing young, brandishing a long knife towards the camera. In Arabic, he swears loyalty to the IS leader, referring to him as the "Emir." The IS had previously accepted responsibility for the attack, which resulted in three fatalities, on Saturday.
The IS propagated through its online mediums that they had received videos from the suspect linked to the Solingen stabbing incident. The exact timeline or authenticity of the person depicted in the video stayed ambiguous.
Is the Solingen Stabber "Samarkand A."?
The individual in the video introduces himself as "Samarkand A." - potentially an alias - and hails from Dair as-Saur, an active region in eastern Syria for IS cells, where they carry out attacks.
The 26-year-old Syrian identified as the suspected Solingen stabber surrendered on Saturday evening and has since been detained. Federal prosecutors accuse him of joining the IS, citing his extreme Islamic beliefs as motivation to eliminate as many "non-believers" as possible during the Solingen city festival. The name attributed to him by investigators does not match the one provided in the video.
The man in the IS video justifies his attack as retaliation for Muslim killings in Syria, Iraq, and Bosnia. Dealing with his parents, he claims this act is also retribution for the "people in Palestine" who suffer under "Zionist"-supported massacres - a reference to the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Islamic Hamas in Gaza.
Some analysts speculate that the terror threat and radicalization within the Islamic world have intensified due to the prolonged clash in Gaza. Germany is one of the United States' key allies and the leading arms provider to Israel.
The investigation into the Solingen stabbing incident revealed that the perpetrator, as identified in the video, had allegedly carried out a terrorist act motivated by his extreme Islamic beliefs and revenge against perceived injustices towards Muslims, as mentioned in the video. The crime of the stabbing incident in Solingen sparked international concerns about the escalation of terrorism and radicalization within the Islamic community.
