ISIL claims responsibility for knife attack in Solingen, Germany | Crime news

Authorities are continuing to search for the perpetrator of the knife attack that killed three people in western Germany.

ISIL (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for a knife attack in Solingen, Germany, that left three people dead and eight others injured, the group's Amaq news site said.

A statement on Saturday said the perpetrator targeted Christians and was an “Islamic State soldier” who carried out the attack “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere else.”

The attack occurred on Friday evening as thousands gathered in a central square to celebrate Solingen's 650th anniversary on Friday. Among the victims killed were a woman and two men.

Markus Caspers of the anti-terrorism department of the public prosecutor's office said at a press conference on Saturday that the authorities had not yet found the perpetrator.

“So far we have not been able to identify a motive, but given the overall circumstances we cannot rule out the possibility of terrorism,” Caspers said, without giving further details.

A 15-year-old boy was arrested early Saturday morning. Caspers said he was arrested after two female witnesses contacted police. They said they overheard a conversation between the boy and an unknown person before the attack, discussing intentions that were consistent with the events that followed.

The police, including special forces, also searched an asylum seekers' home in Solingen city center, reported the German news agency DPA.

“We have received information and are currently taking police action,” said a police spokesman.

Thorsten Fleiss of the German police, the head of operations on Friday night, said it was a “big challenge” to bring together available evidence and witness statements to create an overall picture.

Meanwhile, police have warned the public to remain vigilant until the perpetrator is found.

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser visited Solingen on Saturday evening. She said the federal government would do everything it could to support the city and its citizens.

“We will not allow such a terrible attack to divide our society,” she said together with North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wust and State Minister of the Interior Herbert Reul.

Wust described the attack as “a terrorist act against the security and freedom of this country.” But Faeser, the country's top security official, did not classify it as a terrorist attack.

At its peak, ISIS controlled large areas of Iraq and Syria and carried out several deadly attacks around the world. But in 2017, the group suffered a territorial defeat and its brutal rule collapsed after it lost all the territory it controlled to the Iraqi government and various parties in the Syrian civil war.

The group has previously claimed responsibility for attacks in which it was not involved, including a mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017.

In Solingen, the police cordoned off the square on Saturday, and passers-by laid candles and flowers in front of the barriers.

The authorities also set up an online portal where witnesses could upload footage and other information relevant to the attack. In Solingen, churches also opened their doors to provide space for prayers and emergency pastoral care.

“We are full of shock and sadness,” Solingen’s mayor Tim-Oliver Kurzbach told journalists.

The festival of diversity to mark Solingen's 650th anniversary began on Friday and is scheduled to run until Sunday. Several stages in central streets offer attractions such as live music, cabaret and acrobatics.

The authorities have now cancelled the rest of the festival.