Islamic State claims responsibility for German festival ‘terror attack’; also second arrest.

From the Telegraph

The Islamic State on Saturday claimed responsibility for an attack on festival goers in the German city of Solingen, in which a knifeman killed three people and wounded eight others in a stabbing rampage.

Authorities were last night still hunting for the suspect, who deliberately cut at his victims’ throats according to police.

In a statement on its official mouthpiece Amaq, IS said the attack targeted a gathering of Christians for “the cause of Palestinians and Muslims”.

Minister-president of the German State of North Rhine Westphalia Hendrik Wüst described the attack as “an act of terror against the security and freedom of this country”.

But German interior minister Nancy Faeser, the country’s top security official, has not classified it as a terror attack.

Elite officers in Germany stormed a refugee shelter, with the Bild newspaper reporting that a Syrian was arrested in the raid.

The newspaper stressed that information was initial and unconfirmed but reported the asylum seeker accommodation was just 300 metres from the Fronhof, the market square which was the site of the attack.

It was also just 150 metres from where investigators found the suspected murder weapon on Saturday afternoon. Police tracking dogs led officers from where the knife was found to the refugee shelter. Special units surrounded the building before storming it at 8.18pm local time.

Terror expert Peter Neumann from London’s King’s College told Bild that claims on Amaq were “95 per cent credible. Only in a few cases have they turned out to be false. As a rule, there is more to come. The next 12 hours will be very relevant,” he said.

Also from Bild

Perpetrator description of the stabber of Solingen

male, 20 – 30 years old

► 1.70 – 1.75 meters tall

► Southern appearance

► Athletic stature

► thick short full beard

► Dressed in black, cap

It is still unclear whether it is one or two perpetrators. There are different witness statements on this. The police warn the population in Solingen (NRW) continues to be cautious. “People in the inner city area should be careful,” said a spokesman for the Düsseldorf police with a view to the still fugitive perpetrator. ”

The latest news is a second arrest

As BILD learned, a mantrailer dog had led the investigators directly from the place where the knife was found to the asylum home on Wupper- / Goerdelerstraße in Solingen (). The special unit then surrounded the building and finally stormed it at 8:18 p.m. A suspect was arrested. Whether the man is connected to the crime is currently being investigated. In addition, the investigators are questioning residents of the home.