The German Federal Prosecutor General issued an arrest warrant Sunday on charges of murder and membership in a terrorist organization for the individual accused of fatally stabbing three people in Solingen on August 23.
Issa Al H. will face charges as a suspected member of a foreign terrorist organization under sections 129a and 129b of the German Criminal Code. He is also accused of three counts of murder, attempted murder, and dangerous bodily harm in eight other cases under sections 211, 223, 224, 22, and 23 of the Criminal Code.
The suspect, a Syrian national, was arrested Saturday night following a deadly knife attack at the city festival in Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, on Friday. The attack resulted in three deaths and left eight others seriously injured. The “Islamic State” (IS) has claimed responsibility for the attack.
According to the arrest warrant, “Issa Al H. shares the ideology of the foreign terrorist organization IS” and decided to kill those he considered infidels.
The Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor’s Office has taken over the investigation and proceedings. The suspect has since appeared before the investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice and has been placed in pre-trial detention.
In the aftermath of the attack, political reactions have varied, with parties debating stricter gun, asylum, and counterterrorism laws in Germany. In a TV interview on Sunday evening, Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia Hendrik Wüst, a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), dismissed discussions about stricter gun laws as a “pseudo-debate,” highlighting Islamism and migration as the core issues. He also urged the Federal Foreign Office to facilitate deportations to Syria. CDU leader Friedrich Merz reinforced the party’s conservative stance on immigration, stating that “protecting the population is the most important task of politics.”
Recent statistics reveal a rise in knife attacks in Germany over the past years, particularly in recent months. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution reports a consistent estimate of individuals with Islamist affiliations between 2019 and 2023, noting that the threat of Islamist terrorism remains. The recent attack in Solingen is also anticipated to have a substantial impact on upcoming provincial elections in Saxony and Thuringia.
