AT LEAST 12 people have been injured after a Syrian asylum seeker blew himself up outside a wine bar in Germany.
The attack took place in Ansbach, near Nuremburg, after the 27-year-old was denied access to the nearby Ansbach Open music festival, according to Germany's interior minister Joachim Herrmann.
Herrmann said the suspect, who was known to police, had lived in Germany for two years but was denied asylum in the country a year ago.
He said it is unclear if the suspect intended to kill others or just himself but said he had “tried to commit suicide” twice before and had previously been in psychiatric care in the district hospital in Ansbach.
Of the 12 people injured, three were critically injured in the blast, police said.
Now, photographs have emerged of armed police raiding an Ansbach propety, which local media believe to be the residence of the bomber.
The city's mayor, Carda Seidel, also confirmed the inferno was caused by an explosive device.
The horrifying incident occurred at 10.30pm local time at Eugene's Weinstube, in the city’s old town.
Police said the man killed is the suicide bomber and the explosive device he was carrying was detonated – but they could not confirm if it went off accidentally or intentionally.
The emergency doctor checked to see if the bomber could be resuscitated, but he was already dead.
Investigators are probing links to terrorist organisations and have not ruled out the possibility the bomber was an Islamic extremist.
Herrmann said the contents of the Syrian man’s backpack could have killed many more people, with the material used to make the bomb coming from metal items used in “wood manufacturing” – such as nails and screws.
Herrmann said: “It is terrible that someone abuses the opportunity to find protection here in such a way. I am appalled by that.
“We have to do all we can so that such violence in our country committed by asylum seekers who have come to our country will not spread any further.”
But a spokesman for the Ansbach prosecutor’s office said: “If there is an Islamist link or not is purely speculation at this point.”
The music festival was cancelled as a result of the blast, with around 2,500 people rushed to safety while unconfirmed reports state nearby homes have been evacuated.
The attack took place just three miles away from US military base Katterbach Kaserne, which is home to the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade.
Witness Thomas Debinski said they were initially told the “disturbing” attack was a gas explosion.
He said: “People were definitely panicking, the rumour we were hearing immediately was that there had been a gas explosion.
“But then people came past and said it was a rucksack that had exploded. Someone blew themselves up. After what just happened in Munich it’s very disturbing to think what can happen so close to you in such a small town.”
A spokesman for Herrmann said the explosion was a “deliberate” act rather than an accident.
He said: “At present we assume it is not an accident."
Heavily armed police were at the scene and officers cordoned off the area around the wine bar.
Eyewitness Kevin Krieger said: "We were on the festival grounds. A band was playing when suddenly there was a loud bang. We all looked back. A man from security ran to the entrance.
"There were two people on the ground. They had injuries to their heads and necks. I tried to comfort them. The police cleared the area. Nobody was screaming. The explosion was very loud and I felt the shock waves on my body."
A helicopter was seen hovering overhead and rescue workers are on hand to recover any further victims.
Police spokesman Michael Konrad said: “The only thing I know is that there has been an explosion, I can not confirm anything else.”
The bombing came at the end of a calamitous week for Germany that began on Monday night in Bavaria when a disturbed Afghan refugee called Riaz Khan Ahmadzai, 17, injured five tourists from Hong Kong aboard a regional train in the state.
Two of his victims sustained severe brain injuries. He was shot dead by police near to the scene.
Literature found at his home showed he had been radicalised into Jihadism.
Herrmann said the suspect, who was known to police, had lived in Germany for two years but was denied asylum in the country a year ago.
He said it is unclear if the suspect intended to kill others or just himself but said he had “tried to commit suicide” twice before and had previously been in psychiatric care in the district hospital in Ansbach.
Of the 12 people injured, three were critically injured in the blast, police said.
Now, photographs have emerged of armed police raiding an Ansbach propety, which local media believe to be the residence of the bomber.
The city's mayor, Carda Seidel, also confirmed the inferno was caused by an explosive device.
The horrifying incident occurred at 10.30pm local time at Eugene's Weinstube, in the city’s old town.
Police said the man killed is the suicide bomber and the explosive device he was carrying was detonated – but they could not confirm if it went off accidentally or intentionally.
The emergency doctor checked to see if the bomber could be resuscitated, but he was already dead.
Investigators are probing links to terrorist organisations and have not ruled out the possibility the bomber was an Islamic extremist.
Herrmann said the contents of the Syrian man’s backpack could have killed many more people, with the material used to make the bomb coming from metal items used in “wood manufacturing” – such as nails and screws.
Herrmann said: “It is terrible that someone abuses the opportunity to find protection here in such a way. I am appalled by that.
“We have to do all we can so that such violence in our country committed by asylum seekers who have come to our country will not spread any further.”
But a spokesman for the Ansbach prosecutor’s office said: “If there is an Islamist link or not is purely speculation at this point.”
The music festival was cancelled as a result of the blast, with around 2,500 people rushed to safety while unconfirmed reports state nearby homes have been evacuated.
The attack took place just three miles away from US military base Katterbach Kaserne, which is home to the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade.
Witness Thomas Debinski said they were initially told the “disturbing” attack was a gas explosion.
He said: “People were definitely panicking, the rumour we were hearing immediately was that there had been a gas explosion.
“But then people came past and said it was a rucksack that had exploded. Someone blew themselves up. After what just happened in Munich it’s very disturbing to think what can happen so close to you in such a small town.”
A spokesman for Herrmann said the explosion was a “deliberate” act rather than an accident.
He said: “At present we assume it is not an accident."
Heavily armed police were at the scene and officers cordoned off the area around the wine bar.
Eyewitness Kevin Krieger said: "We were on the festival grounds. A band was playing when suddenly there was a loud bang. We all looked back. A man from security ran to the entrance.
"There were two people on the ground. They had injuries to their heads and necks. I tried to comfort them. The police cleared the area. Nobody was screaming. The explosion was very loud and I felt the shock waves on my body."
A helicopter was seen hovering overhead and rescue workers are on hand to recover any further victims.
Police spokesman Michael Konrad said: “The only thing I know is that there has been an explosion, I can not confirm anything else.”
The bombing came at the end of a calamitous week for Germany that began on Monday night in Bavaria when a disturbed Afghan refugee called Riaz Khan Ahmadzai, 17, injured five tourists from Hong Kong aboard a regional train in the state.
Two of his victims sustained severe brain injuries. He was shot dead by police near to the scene.
Literature found at his home showed he had been radicalised into Jihadism.
Then on Friday night came the bloodbath in the state capital on Munich when former psychiatric patient Ali David Sonboly, 18, murdered nine people after luring them to a McDonald's restaurant in the city's Olympic Park shopping centre.
Afterwards he took his own life. The killer, who was born in Germany and held German and Iranian citizenship, was obsessed with mass shootings because he was bullied at school and there was no obvious link to terrorism.
On Sunday afternoon, as Bavaria sweltered in a heatwave, a Syrian man wielding a machete murdered a pregnant woman outside a doner kebab stall in Reutlingen, 150 miles from Munich in the neighbouring state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
He then attacked and injured a further five people before the son of the fast food stall rammed him from behind with his BMW car.
Police said he and the 45-year-old dead woman worked together at the stall. Again, there was no obvious terrorism motive.
They were in a relationship and seen arguing moments before the murderous assault. Police said the attacker is mentally disturbed.
Just six hours later came the Ansbach bombing.
Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann said in the hours after the explosion, "My personal view is that I think it's unfortunately very obvious that a real Islamist suicide attack has taken place.
"The perpetrators had a backpack with explosives, in which, at the same time many sharp-edged metal parts were packed. It was a bomb designed to hurt as many people in the area.
"Therefore we must assume that this was no pure act of suicide but that he wanted to kill as many people as possible along with his own destruction."
When asked why the suspect remained in the country after being declined asylum, Herrman said: "In Germany it's standard practice that due to the the situation in Syria he was not deported.
"He was given exceptional leave to remain."
Chancellor Angela Merkel, who allowed over a million refugees into Germany in an act of humanitariasm unparelleled in the country's postwar history, has been left reeling by the week's events.
Rivals such as the right wing Alternative for Germany party (AfD) have been gloating on the Internet about the attacks which they say are a result of her her policies.
Police said the Ansbach bomber came to Germany two years ago and last year was denied permission to settle in the country. But he was NOT deported...due to the situation in his homeland.
Interior minister Herrmann said he found it "outrageous" that the man - known to police in the town of 40,000 people for petty criminality - had abused the asylum system in such a way.
No comments:
Post a Comment