Authorities identified a 26-year-old man as responsible in the deadly stabbing spree at a festival in Solingen, Germany, last week that left three people dead and wounded eight others as a Syrian national with possible links to the Islamic State.

Federal prosecutors in Germany identified the suspect as Issa Al H., omitting his family name because of German privacy laws.

The Islamic State previously claimed responsibility, saying that the attacker targeted Christians who carried out the attack “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.” 

The Islamic State group described the man who carried out the attack as a “soldier of the Islamic State” in a statement on its Telegram account.

ISLAMIC STATE CLAIMS RESPONSIBILYT IN GERMAN FESTIVAL ATTACK AS SECOND SUSPECT ARRESTED

North Rhine-Westphalia’s interior minister, Herbert Reul, said that Issa Al H. was living at a home for refugees in Solinger prior to the attack.

Der Spiegel magazine, citing unidentified security sources, said that the suspect had moved to Germany late in 2022, and sought asylum.

GERMAN RIGHT WING CANDIDATE STABBED IN LATEST ATTACK AHEAD OF ELECTIONS

Following the fatal Aug. 23 knife attack, Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for stricter immigration laws and an increase in deportations.

“We will have to do everything we can to ensure that those who cannot and are not allowed to stay in Germany are repatriated and deported,” Scholz said while visiting the sight where the stabbing happened.

“This was terrorism, terrorism against us all,” he said.

Police officers stand near a building in Solingen, Germany.  (Gianni Gattus/dpa via AP)

The victims were in front of a stage enjoying a live music band playing to mark the town’s 650-year anniversary when the attack occurred at around 9:35 p.m. local time on Aug. 23.

The three people who died were two men aged 67 and 56, and a 56-year-old woman, authorities said. Police said the attacker appeared to have deliberately aimed for his victims’ throats.

Police cordoned off the square following and passers-by placed candles and flowers outside the barriers.

GERMAN POLICE OFFICER WHO WAS STABBED BY AFGHAN IMMIGRANT HAS DIED

In a translated social media post immediately following the attack, Solingen Mayor Tim Kurzbach said that they are in “shock” following the attack. 

“Tonight we are all in Solingen in shock, fright and great sadness,” he wrote. “We all wanted to celebrate our city anniversary together, and now we have to mourn the dead and injured. Breaks my heart that there was an assassination attack on our town.”

EMTs and police are deployed near the scene where three people were killed and injured in a stabbing spree at a festival in Solingen, Germany, Aug. 23. (Gianni Gattus/dpa via AP)

Fatal stabbings and shootings are relatively uncommon in Germany. The government said earlier this month it wanted to toughen rules on knives that can be carried in public.

In May, an Afghan migrant went on a stabbing spree in Mannheim, which is located in the southwest of Germany, where he wounded an anti-Islam activist and several others, including a police officer who died. Days later, a member of the German right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD) was stabbed in the city while canvassing for election. 

The violence comes ahead of three state elections next month in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg, in which the anti-mass immigration right wing party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), has a chance of winning.

Though the motive and identity of the assailant were not known, a top AfD candidate for one of the state elections, Bjoern Hoecke, seized on Friday’s attack, posting on X: “Do you really want to get used to this? Free yourselves and end this insanity of forced multiculturalism”.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Republican presidential candidate’s comments latest bid to present a moderate image on reproductive issues.

Donald Trump has pledged to make in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment free for all women and criticised a six-week abortion ban in Florida, the latest bid by the Republican to rebrand himself as a defender of reproductive rights.

Speaking at a campaign stop on Thursday, Trump said he would require the government or insurance companies to cover all costs for IVF if elected to a second term as president in November.

“Because we want more babies, to put it very nicely,” Trump told supporters in Potterville, Michigan, a key battleground state.

“But the IVF treatments are very expensive,” the Republican Party candidate added. “It’s very hard for many people to do it, and to get it. But I’ve been in favour of IVF right from the beginning.”

Trump did not elaborate on how he would fund the plans.

Trump also said he would allow new parents to deduct “major newborn expenses” from their taxes if re-elected.

In an interview with NBC News earlier on Thursday, Trump said that a six-week limit on abortion signed by the Republican Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis is “too short” and there should be “more time”.

Trump also appeared to suggest that he would vote in favour of an upcoming ballot measure in Florida to guarantee a right to an abortion until foetal viability, although a campaign adviser later said the former president had not revealed whether he would support the measure.

Trump’s comments come as he seeks to moderate Republicans’ image on reproductive access, which has been cited as a drag on the party’s standing among women.

On Friday, Trump, who appointed three of the US Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion, said in a post on his Truth Social platform that his administration would be “great for women and their reproductive rights”.

Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party candidate, has repeatedly cast Trump as a threat to women’s rights, including access to abortion, birth control and fertility treatments.

Addressing supporters in the swing state of Georgia on Thursday, Harris reiterated her warning that Trump would sign a nationwide abortion ban in office.

“Why don’t they trust women? Well, we trust women! And when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom, as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law,” she said.

Senator JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, on Saturday told NBC News that Trump would veto a national abortion ban if sent to his desk by Congress.

Opinion polls suggest that Trump has lost support among women voters since the vice president replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic contender.

In a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday, Harris led Trump by 13 percentage points among women, up from a nine-point lead in July.

While Trump’s effort to present a moderate image on reproductive issues could boost his appeal in some quarters, it risks alienating religious and anti-abortion voters, who make up a significant portion of the Republican base.

“It’s a problem for Trump that after the speech which he wanted to settle the issue, he is, week by week, making his position on abortion more liberal, pulling the floorboards out from under his pro-life supporters and making them feel like he won’t stop,” Michael Brendan Dougherty, a writer for the conservative National Review, said in a post on X on Thursday.

Republican presidential candidate’s comments latest bid to present a moderate image on reproductive issues.

Donald Trump has pledged to make in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment free for all women and criticised a six-week abortion ban in Florida, the latest bid by the Republican to rebrand himself as a defender of reproductive rights.

Speaking at a campaign stop on Thursday, Trump said he would require the government or insurance companies to cover all costs for IVF if elected to a second term as president in November.

“Because we want more babies, to put it very nicely,” Trump told supporters in Potterville, Michigan, a key battleground state.

“But the IVF treatments are very expensive,” the Republican Party candidate added. “It’s very hard for many people to do it, and to get it. But I’ve been in favour of IVF right from the beginning.”

Trump did not elaborate on how he would fund the plans.

Trump also said he would allow new parents to deduct “major newborn expenses” from their taxes if re-elected.

In an interview with NBC News earlier on Thursday, Trump said that a six-week limit on abortion signed by the Republican Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis is “too short” and there should be “more time”.

Trump also appeared to suggest that he would vote in favour of an upcoming ballot measure in Florida to guarantee a right to an abortion until foetal viability, although a campaign adviser later said the former president had not revealed whether he would support the measure.

Trump’s comments come as he seeks to moderate Republicans’ image on reproductive access, which has been cited as a drag on the party’s standing among women.

On Friday, Trump, who appointed three of the US Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion, said in a post on his Truth Social platform that his administration would be “great for women and their reproductive rights”.

Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party candidate, has repeatedly cast Trump as a threat to women’s rights, including access to abortion, birth control and fertility treatments.

Addressing supporters in the swing state of Georgia on Thursday, Harris reiterated her warning that Trump would sign a nationwide abortion ban in office.

“Why don’t they trust women? Well, we trust women! And when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom, as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law,” she said.

Senator JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, on Saturday told NBC News that Trump would veto a national abortion ban if sent to his desk by Congress.

Opinion polls suggest that Trump has lost support among women voters since the vice president replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic contender.

In a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday, Harris led Trump by 13 percentage points among women, up from a nine-point lead in July.

While Trump’s effort to present a moderate image on reproductive issues could boost his appeal in some quarters, it risks alienating religious and anti-abortion voters, who make up a significant portion of the Republican base.

“It’s a problem for Trump that after the speech which he wanted to settle the issue, he is, week by week, making his position on abortion more liberal, pulling the floorboards out from under his pro-life supporters and making them feel like he won’t stop,” Michael Brendan Dougherty, a writer for the conservative National Review, said in a post on X on Thursday.