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Ansbach explosion: Bomber pledged allegiance to IS | Ansbach explosion: Bomber pledged allegiance to IS |
(35 minutes later) | |
A video showing the Syrian man who blew himself up in Ansbach, Germany, on Sunday pledging allegiance to the leader of so-called Islamic State has been found on his phone, says Bavaria's interior minister. | |
Joachim Hermann says two phones, multiple SIM cards and a laptop were found with the body of the 27-year-old asylum seeker or at his accommodation. | Joachim Hermann says two phones, multiple SIM cards and a laptop were found with the body of the 27-year-old asylum seeker or at his accommodation. |
The man threatened a "revenge attack" on Germans in the video, he said. | The man threatened a "revenge attack" on Germans in the video, he said. |
Fifteen people were injured. | Fifteen people were injured. |
The attacker "announced in the name of Allah that he pledged allegiance to [IS chief] Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi... and announced an act of revenge against Germans because they were standing in the way of Islam," Mr Hermann said. | |
Germany was already reeling after five people were wounded on a train in another part of Bavaria a week ago by an axe-wielding teenager from Afghanistan who had pledged allegiance to IS. | |
On Friday nine people were killed by a teenage gunman in the state capital, Munich, who then shot himself dead. That incident was not believed to be jihadist-inspired. | |
What is going on in Germany? | |
Bavarian authorities said that the bomb which exploded in Ansbach was constructed in such a way that it was clearly meant to kill as many people as possible. | |
Further bomb-making equipment was found at the asylum seeker accommodation where the man was living, including petrol, hydrogen peroxide and batteries, they added. | Further bomb-making equipment was found at the asylum seeker accommodation where the man was living, including petrol, hydrogen peroxide and batteries, they added. |
A detailed analysis of the content of the videos was ongoing, Mr Hermann said. | |
"I think it is unquestionable that it is a terror attack with corresponding Islamist convictions of the perpetrator," he said. | |
Seven deadly days | |
A week of bloody attacks has frayed nerves in Germany, which led the way in accepting asylum seekers from Syria. To date, only the first has been linked to a militant group: | |
German media on the attacks | |
The German interior minister, Thomas de Maiziere, acknowledged possible links to international terrorism and IS but also added: "At the same time, we cannot exclude a particular psychological or mental disorder or instability - or we may be talking about a combination of both factors." | |
Mr de Maiziere has ordered increased police presence in public places. | |
The Ansbach attacker - who has not been named - came to Germany two years ago but was denied asylum and was due to be deported to Bulgaria, where he had already been granted refugee status. | |
Officials say the man has tried to kill himself on two occasions and has received psychiatric inpatient treatment. | |
The Syrian asylum seekers rejected by Germany | |
Germany has been the main destination of Syrian asylum seekers entering the EU, most of them arriving irregularly in Greece via Turkey. | |
Only 23 Syrians had their applications for asylum rejected by the country last year, out of a total of 105,620 decisions on Syrians' applications. A common reason for rejecting an application is when the asylum seeker submits false or incomplete information. | |
Just under half of asylum seekers rejected by Germany in the past two years were allowed to stay on in the country, according to a recent report in German daily Die Welt (in German). | |
The Ansbach bomber, who was among those rejected for asylum in 2015, appears to have been placed in a former hotel in the town, designated by the municipal authorities for asylum seekers since 2014. | |
Source of statistics: German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees report (in German) |