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Würzburg train attack

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On 18 July 2016, Riaz Khan Ahmadzai, a 17-year-old refugee from Afghanistan, stabbed and injured five people on and outside a train near Würzburg, Germany.[1][2][3][4] He was shot dead by police soon afterwards, after attacking a police tactical unit with an axe.[5][6] Investigations revealed he was in contact with members of the Islamic State.

Würzburg train attack
Part of Islamic terrorism in Europe
Regionalbahn between Winterhausen and Würzburg-Heidingsfeld
LocationWürzburg, Bavaria, Germany
Coordinates49°45′22″N 9°58′14″E / 49.75611°N 9.97061°E / 49.75611; 9.97061
Date18 July 2016 (2016-07-18)
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)
Attack type
Mass stabbing
WeaponsHatchet, knife
Deaths1 (the perpetrator)
Injured5
AssailantsRiaz Khan Ahmadzai
MotiveIslamic extremism

Attack

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At about 21:00 local time, on a train traveling on the line between Treuchtlingen and Würzburg, a youth, armed with a hatchet and a knife, stabbed random passengers, injuring a family of four Hong Kongers, two critically. The knifeman then went out of the train, stabbing a woman who was walking her dog, hitting her with the axe twice in the face, seriously injuring her.[7][3][4] The perpetrator was located by the police about 500 m (1,600 ft) from the train.[3] The attacker tried to flee and was shot dead by the SEK police tactical unit after they confronted him and he tried to attack them with the hatchet.[8][9][3][10] He reportedly shouted "Allahu Akbar!" during the attack, according to Oliver Platzer, a spokesman for the Bavarian Interior Ministry.[11] Public prosecutor Erik Ohlenschlagern said police heard the attacker call out "Allahu Akbar!" in a recorded emergency call from a witness' mobile phone.[12]

On 20 July, it was announced that Attorney General Peter Frank had taken over the investigation, because of the suspicion that the attacker was a member of Islamic State.[13]

Victims

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Five people were wounded in the attack. Four were members from the same family: a woman, her boyfriend and her parents, and were all tourists from Hong Kong.[14][15] A fifth victim, attacked outside the train, was a local German woman.[2][3][4] Fourteen witnesses were treated for shock.[6][16]

Perpetrator

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Riaz Khan Ahmadzai, born on 6 April 1999 (Pashto: رياض خان احمدزی), also known as Muhammad Riyad,[17] was reported to be a 17-year-old Afghan male who arrived in Germany as an unaccompanied child refugee in 2015.[18][19][20][21][22] He first lived in a refugee camp in Ochsenfurt, then for two weeks with a foster family in Gaukönigshofen 5.6 kilometres (3.5 mi) southwest of Ochsenfurt,[23] both in the district Würzburg.[24][25] Prosecutors learnt the perpetrator wanted to avenge the death of a friend who had been killed in Afghanistan.[18] Authorities later discovered evidence showing that Ahmadzai was in contact with a suspected Islamic State member and had originally been asked to drive a car into a crowd of people. Ahmadzai declined this suggestion as he was not able to drive the car.[26][27] Instead, he told his contact that he would plan and carry out a train attack.[28]

Die Welt reported that "he was a devout Muslim," but was not perceived as fanatical.[29] Amaq News Agency published a two-and-a-half minute video, allegedly of him speaking in Pashto, proclaiming himself a soldier of the Caliphate, threatening further ISIL attacks in "every village, city and airport" and holding a knife.[30][31] German officials were checking if the man in the video was in fact the attacker. The Chief of the German Chancellery, Peter Altmaier, told ZDF television, "The security authorities expect that this video is in all likelihood authentic".[32]

Police found a hand-painted ISIL flag at his foster family's home, along with a letter he appeared to have written to his father, which they said read: "And now pray for me that I can get revenge on these non-believers, pray for me that I go to heaven."[32]

Reactions

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Authorities temporarily closed the train line between Ochsenfurt and Würzburg-Heidingsfeld.[33][34]

Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said, "There are witnesses that suggest there may be an Islamic background to this but that is far from clear at this point." Both he and Landeskriminalamt spokesman Fabian Hench declined to confirm the attacker said "Allahu Akbar".[35][36] Herrmann said it did not appear the victims were targeted for being Chinese.[30] On 21 July, Herrmann demanded stricter control of the German borders. People without valid papers had to be adhered and checked at the border. "We can't let it slide this way anymore", Herrmann said. Hermann also criticised slow asylum proceedings. No fingerprints were taken of the perpetrator and no hearing of him took place.[37]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the attack as an "incredibly cruel act" and promised that everything would be done by the authorities to prevent further attacks.[37]

Rolf Tophoven, director of the Crisis Prevention Institute in Essen told Le Monde that the perpetrator was "integrated" and wasn't known to police or intelligence agencies. He said he appeared to have been radicalised overnight, perhaps through frustration, hopelessness and online ISIL propaganda, and that the case appeared similar to that of Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, who committed the 2016 Nice truck attack, or Omar Mateen of the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, because of their lack of direct connection to ISIL.[38]

Amaq News Agency, an online presence associated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, citing an "inside source", said the attacker was "a soldier of the Islamic State who executed the operation in response to calls to target nations in the coalition fighting the Islamic State".[39][40]

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying condemned the attack as he dispatched a team of immigration officers to accompany the victims’ relatives to Germany. The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Berlin dispatched staff to visit the injured. Leung said he was saddened by the incident and expressed his sympathy.[41][42][43][44]

The attack was linked to the European migrant crisis, and was reported to have raised more questions about Angela Merkel's open-door refugee policy.[45] The attack was compared to a knife attack at Hanover main station earlier that year on 26 February.[46]

Former federal minister Renate Künast of the Green Party was ridiculed by police union chief Rainer Wendt as a "parliamentary smart aleck" for asking why the perpetrator was shot dead instead of arrested alive.[47]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Narayan, Chandrika; Cook, Lonzo; Berlinger, Joshua (19 July 2016). "Police: ISIS-like flag found in train attacker's apartment". CNN. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Angriffe mit Vernichtungswillen". Der Spiegel. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Was wir über den Angriff bei Würzburg wissen – und was nicht". Süddeutsche Zeitung. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  4. ^ a b c "ISIS claims responsibility for ax attack on German train". New York Times. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  5. ^ "Germany's first attack by radicalised asylum seeker alarms officials". The Guardian. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  6. ^ a b "Mann attackiert Zugreisende mit Axt – vier Schwerverletzte". Der Spiegel. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  7. ^ "Riaz A. erfuhr vom Tod eines Freundes in Afghanistan". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 21 July 2016. Er schlug ihr mit der Axt zwei Mal ins Gesicht.
  8. ^ "Hong Kong family reveals terror of German train attack". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 July 2016. He was then shot dead by police as he began to attack officers with the axe.
  9. ^ "Regionalzug nahe Würzburg: Drei Schwerverletzte bei Attacke mit Axt – DIE WELT". Welt.de. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  10. ^ "German train 'axe attack': Many reported hurt". BBC. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  11. ^ "Axt-Täter von Würzburg rief "Allahu Akbar"". Tages Anzeiger (in German). 19 July 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  12. ^ "Police: Attacker sought revenge on 'infidels'". WRDW12. Associated Press. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  13. ^ "Bundesanwalt übernimmt Ermittlungen nach Axt-Attentat". Berliner Morgenpost (in German). Retrieved 21 July 2016. Es bestehe der Verdacht, "dass der Attentäter die Tat als Mitglied des sogenannten Islamischen Staats zielgerichtet begangen hat"
  14. ^ "Germany axe attack: Assault on train in Wurzburg injured HK family". BBC. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  15. ^ "Hand-painted Isis flag 'found in room of train attacker'". thelocal.de. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  16. ^ "Germany axe attack: Assault on train in Wurzburg". bbc.com. BBC. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  17. ^ Wheatstone, Richard (19 July 2016). "Germany train attack: Hong Kong family hacked at by axe-wielding teen 'had just been to wedding in UK'". Mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  18. ^ a b "German train attack: Pakistani knifeman 'wanted revenge' for friend's death". BBC. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  19. ^ "German axe attack on train: Isil claim Afghan refugee who injured four as one of its 'fighters'". Telegraph. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  20. ^ "Hand-drawn Islamic State flag found in room of German train attacker: Herrmann". CNBC. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  21. ^ "Afghan Teenager Spoke of Friend's Death Before Ax Attack in Germany". New York Times. 19 July 2016.
  22. ^ "Doubt cast on Bavaria axe attacker's nationality". The Local. 20 July 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  23. ^ Fritz, Thomas; Stahl, Benjamin (26 July 2016). "Axt-Attentäter: Gaukönigshofen ist geschockt" [In Gaukönigshofen, where the assassin had lived in a foster home for two weeks, nothing is like it was.]. Main Post. Archived from the original on 26 September 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2016. In Gaukönigshofen, wo der Attentäter seit zwei Wochen in einer Pflegefamilie gelebt hatte, ist nichts mehr, wie es war.
  24. ^ Angerer, Carlo; Helsel, Phil (19 July 2016). "Man Attacks Passengers on Train in Germany, 3 Severely Hurt". NBC News. Retrieved 19 July 2016. Hermann was quoted by NBC's German partners ZDF as saying the 17-year-old was an unaccompanied refugee, and lived with a caretaker or foster family in Ochsenfurt, south of Würzburg.
  25. ^ "German police fatally shoot attacker with axe on passenger train". CBC News. Associated Press. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  26. ^ "Axt-Attentat: Chat belegt Kaltblütigkeit". "Main Post". 15 September 2016. Archived from the original on October 12, 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  27. ^ "Perpetrators Of Germany Attacks Advised By ISIS: Report". NDTV. 5 August 2016.
  28. ^ "Germany Attackers Had Contact with Suspected IS Members", by Andreas Ulrich, Spiegel Online
  29. ^ "Riaz A. erfuhr vom Tod eines Freundes in Afghanistan". Die Welt (in German). 19 July 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2016. Er sei gläubiger Muslim gewesen, aber nur an Feiertagen in die Moschee gegangen und nicht als radikal oder fanatisch aufgefallen.
  30. ^ a b "German train attack: IS releases video of 'Afghan knifeman'". BBC News. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  31. ^ "IS' 'Amaq News Agency Releases Video of Alleged Wuerzburg Attacker Identifying as 'Soldier of the Caliphate'". SITE Intelligence Group. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  32. ^ a b Hack, Jens (19 July 2016). "German train ax attack puts Merkel migrant policy back in spotlight". Reuters. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  33. ^ "German train 'axe attack': more than 20 reported to be injured". NZH. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  34. ^ "German axe attack on train: Isil claim Pakistani refugee who injured four as one of its 'fighters'". The Daily Telegraph UK. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  35. ^ Hack, Jens (19 July 2016). "Pakistani refugee with ax attacks passengers on German train". Reuters Canada. Archived from the original on July 20, 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  36. ^ Troianovski, Anton (2016-07-18). "Pakistani Migrant Shot Dead After Hatchet Attack on German Train". The Wall Street Journal. Berlin. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  37. ^ a b Herrmann pocht auf strengere Kontrollen an Grenzen, Rheinische Post, 21 July 2016, in German
  38. ^ Perrine Mouterde. "Attaque en Allemagne : " Le danger, c'est que ces loups solitaires peuvent faire des émules "". Le Monde. Retrieved 20 July 2016. 'il était intégré et qu'il n'a montré aucun signe de radicalisation. Il avait un comportement normal et n'est jamais apparu sur les radars des services de renseignement, de la police ou des autorités. C'était un gars normal qui vivait au milieu des réfugiés, comme il y en a dans tous les pays. Peut-être qu'il était frustré par sa situation, ne se voyait pas d'avenir. Il a pu regarder la propagande de l'EI sur Internet, les vidéos, etc., jusqu'à ce que se produise cette « radicalisation éclair », du jour au lendemain. Il semble pour l'instant que son cas soit assez similaire à celui du tueur de Nice
  39. ^ "German axe attack on train: Isil claim Afghan refugee who injured four as one of its 'fighters'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  40. ^ "IS' 'Amaq Says Axe Attack on German Train Carried Out by IS "Soldier"". SITE Intelligence Group. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  41. ^ "Two Hongkongers critically hurt in German axe attack by Afghan refugee who kept Islamic State flag at home". South China Morning Post. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  42. ^ "CE condemns violent attack in Würzburg, Germany". Info.gov.hk. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  43. ^ "Immigration Department follows up incident of Hong Kong residents being attacked in Würzburg, Germany". Info.gov.hk. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  44. ^ "Immigration Dept to help attack victims". News.gov.hk. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  45. ^ "German train ax attack puts Merkel migrant policy back in spotlight". Reuters. 19 July 2016.
  46. ^ Philip Oltermann. "Germany's first attack by radicalised asylum seeker alarms officials". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 July 2016. German terrorist experts have drawn comparisons between Monday night's attack and an incident in Hanover on 26 February, in which 15-year-old student Safia S stabbed a policeman in the neck during a routine ID check. Security agencies in Germany were still investigating the student's claims that she had been acting upon orders from Isis.
  47. ^ "German politicians slow to react to Würzburg attack". Deutsche Welle. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
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