The Islamic State terror group appears to have scored another success in its effort to terrorize the world, this time claiming responsibility for Monday’s attack on a train in Germany in which a man stabbed and wounded a number of people, some seriously.
The Islamic State (ISIS) group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a train in Germany in which a man armed with an ax and a knife injured at least five people.
The claim was posted on the group’s Aamaq news agency on Tuesday.
It came hours after a 17-year-old Afghan asylum seeker attacked passengers with an ax and knife on a train near Wuerzburg-Heidingsfeld on Monday night, before he was shot and killed by a special police unit.
The statement says the attacker was “a member of the Islamic State” group and carried out the attack in response to the terror group’s calls to attack countries that are members of the anti-ISIS coalition.
“Even during the first emergency call, a witness said that the attacker was shouting ‘Allahu akbar’ on the train,” Joachim Herrmann, Bavaria’s interior minister, told ZDF Television. “Also, during a search of his room, a hand-painted ISIS flag was found.”
“Allahu Akbar” (“God is Great” in Arabic) is a phrase frequently shouted by Muslim terrorists during attacks.
Herrmann said that it was too early to draw conclusions about the attacker’s motive.
Attack Scene Looked ‘Like a Slaughterhouse’
The terrorist injured at least four people on the train near Wuerzburg-Heidingsfeld on Monday night, and also a woman outside the train as he fled.
Witnesses said the interior of the train was covered with blood and looked “like a slaughterhouse,” the German news agency dpa reported. About 30 passengers were on the train at the time; more than a dozen were treated for shock.
The terrorist jumped off the train after someone pulled the emergency cord and got about 500 meters (yards) away before the police special unit chased him. As police drew near, the terrorist started attacking the officers and was shot, dpa reported, quoting Herrmann.
On Tuesday morning, officers could be seen removing the terrorist’s body from the scene.
Herrmann said at least two victims — members of a Chinese tourist family — were in critical condition.
Dpa reported that the terrorist injured the 62-year-old father, the 58-year-old mother, their adult daughter and her boyfriend. The teenage son was not injured. The father and the boyfriend had tried to defend the other family members, dpa said.
Germany last year registered more than 1 million asylum seekers entering the country, including more than 150,000 Afghans, and many others from Muslim countries.
In May, a man stabbed four people at a German train station in a random early-morning attack in Grafing near Munich. One man later died. The attacker, a German citizen, also shouted “Allahu akbar” during the attack, but authorities found no evidence of links to Islamic terrorism. He was later sent to a psychiatric hospital.
By: AP and World Israel News Staff