| Würzburg train attack | |
|---|---|
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 Interactive map of Würzburg train attack | |
| Location | 49°45′22″N9°58′14″E / 49.75611°N 9.97061°E /49.75611; 9.97061 Würzburg, Bavaria, Germany |
| Date | 18 July 2016; 9 years ago (2016-07-18) 21:00CEST (UTC+2) |
Attack type | Mass stabbing |
| Weapons | Hatchet, knife |
| Deaths | 1 (the perpetrator) |
| Injured | 5 |
| Assailants | Riaz Khan Ahmadzai |
| Motive | Islamic extremism |
On 18 July 2016, Riaz Khan Ahmadzai, a 17-year-old refugee from Afghanistan, stabbed and injured five people on and outside a train nearWürzburg, 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 theIslamic State.
At about 21:00 local time, on a train traveling onthe line betweenTreuchtlingen andWürzburg, a youth, armed with a hatchet and a knife, stabbed random passengers, injuring a family of fourHong 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 theSEKpolice 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 theBavarian Interior Ministry.[11] Publicprosecutor 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 GeneralPeter Frank had taken over the investigation, because of the suspicion that the attacker was a member ofIslamic State.[13]
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 fromHong Kong.[14][15] A fifth victim, attacked outside the train, was a local German woman.[2][3][4] Fourteen witnesses were treated forshock.[6][16]
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 anunaccompanied childrefugee in 2015.[18][19][20][21][22] He first lived in arefugee camp in Ochsenfurt, then for two weeks with afoster family inGaukönigshofen 5.6 kilometres (3.5 mi) southwest of Ochsenfurt,[23] both in thedistrict 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 inPashto, proclaiming himself a soldier of the Caliphate, threatening further IS 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 theGerman Chancellery,Peter Altmaier, toldZDF television, "The security authorities expect that this video is in all likelihood authentic".[32]
Police found a hand-paintedIS 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]
Authorities temporarily closed the train line betweenOchsenfurt and Würzburg-Heidingsfeld.[33][34]
Bavarian Interior MinisterJoachim 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 andLandeskriminalamt 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 ChancellorAngela 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 toldLe 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 IS propaganda, and that the case appeared similar to that ofMohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, who committed the2016 Nice truck attack, orOmar Mateen of the 2016Orlando nightclub shooting, because of their lack of direct connection to IS.[38]
Amaq News Agency, an online presence associated with theIslamic State, 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 ExecutiveLeung Chun-ying condemned the attack as he dispatched a team of immigration officers to accompany the victims’ relatives to Germany. TheHong 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 theEuropean migrant crisis, and was reported to have raised more questions aboutAngela 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 ministerRenate Künast of theGreen Party was ridiculed by police union chiefRainer Wendt as a "parliamentary smart aleck" for asking why the perpetrator was shot dead instead of arrested alive.[47]
Er schlug ihr mit der Axt zwei Mal ins Gesicht.
He was then shot dead by police as he began to attack officers with the axe.
Es bestehe der Verdacht, "dass der Attentäter die Tat als Mitglied des sogenannten Islamischen Staats zielgerichtet begangen hat"
In Gaukönigshofen, wo der Attentäter seit zwei Wochen in einer Pflegefamilie gelebt hatte, ist nichts mehr, wie es war.
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.
Er sei gläubiger Muslim gewesen, aber nur an Feiertagen in die Moschee gegangen und nicht als radikal oder fanatisch aufgefallen.
'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
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.
