Federal authorities take over the case of a stabbing at a festival on suspicion of terrorism

He was brought before the Federal Court of Justice, which issued an arrest warrant against him and ordered his detention pending trial.

During the operation at the refugee shelter, a second man who is said to have had contact with the initially unknown perpetrator was taken to a police station. “According to the current status of the investigation, this person is a witness,” the police said in a statement.

The previous Saturday, police arrested a 15-year-old boy on suspicion of failing to report a crime.

Three people were killed in the knife attack on Friday: two men aged 67 and 56 and a 56-year-old woman. The attacks were apparently random and had nothing to do with each other, the authorities said on Saturday. Eight other people were injured, at least four of them seriously. People had gathered that day for a celebration to mark the 650th anniversary of the city of Solingen, and the police said there had been no specific threat of terrorism in the run-up to the festival.

Siavash Hosseini, a 33-year-old Iranian refugee who survived the attack, described his narrow escape, saying the attacker was fast and appeared to be aiming for the victims' necks.

“Fortunately, I was able to turn away, [the attacker] “He grabbed my neck and my shoulder and then very quickly moved to the other people and stabbed them very quickly in the front of the neck,” Hosseini told German media.

In its statement on Saturday, Islamic State described the attacker as “a soldier” who attacked “a gathering of Christians in the city of Solingen” and said – apparently alluding to the war in Gaza – that he was “taking revenge for Muslims in Palestine and elsewhere”.

The group, which once controlled vast areas of Iraq and Syria, provided no evidence to support the claim.

The federal prosecutor's office stated that Issa Al H. “decided, due to his radical Islamic beliefs, to kill as many people as possible at the town festival whom he considered to be infidels.”

Solingen, a western city about 24 kilometers east of Düsseldorf, is home to about 160,000 people. Like many cities in Germany, The country has not only taken in millions of asylum seekers, but also hosts numerous refugees from countries such as Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

Hundreds of people gathered Sunday morning for a memorial service at a church near the scene of Friday's stabbings, laying flowers and other expressions of condolence. One of the messages, written in German, read simply: “Why?”

Fatal knife and gun attacks are rare in Germany, but the recent rise in knife crime prompted the government to promise stricter gun laws. In May, a police officer was fatally stabbed at an anti-Islam rally in Mannheim.

Following Friday's knife attacks, German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said more gun-free zones and stricter gun laws were needed.

“No one in Germany needs bladed and stabbing weapons in public. We no longer live in the Middle Ages,” said Habeck.