German man suspected of IS stabbing arrested

German police have arrested a suspect in connection with a knife attack in the western city of Solingen on Friday that left three people dead and eight injured.

The three people stabbed to death have been identified as two men aged 67 and 56 and a 56-year-old woman. Police said the attacker appeared to have deliberately aimed for the victims' throats.

Düsseldorf police said in a joint statement with the public prosecutor's office that the arrested man “said he was responsible for the attack.” The statement said he had been arrested before, but gave no details.

“The involvement of this person in the crime is currently under thorough investigation,” the statement said.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday, saying on Telegram that the attack was “revenge against Muslims in Palestine and around the world” and describing the man who carried out the attack as an “Islamic State soldier.”

Germany is Israel's second largest arms supplier and the German government is seen as deeply biased towards Israel in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Authorities had earlier said a 15-year-old boy had been arrested on suspicion of knowing about the planned attack and failing to report it to authorities, but that he was not the attacker. Police later made a second arrest of a man at a refugee center near the scene of the attack.

The indiscriminate attack took place on Friday evening at the Fronhof market square in Solingen, where bands were playing live during the Diversity Festival marking the city's 650th anniversary.

The Bild daily reported that the arrested man was covered in blood when he approached police shortly after 11 p.m. and told them: “I am the one you are looking for.” The Bild daily and Spiegel magazine reported that the suspect had surrendered to police.

According to Spiegel, the suspect has been hiding in a backyard since the crime. He is believed to be a 26-year-old Syrian national who arrived in Germany in 2022 and applied for asylum in Bielefeld, about 150 kilometers northeast of Solingen.

“We are in shock and mourning,” Solingen Mayor Tim-Oliver Kurzbach told reporters.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the attack “a terrible event that has deeply shocked me.” “We must not accept such a thing in our society. The law must be applied to the fullest extent possible,” he said.

Separately, French police said they had arrested a man suspected of starting fires and causing an explosion outside a synagogue early Saturday in the southwest of the country.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the “alleged perpetrator” had been arrested.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on X that the attack was a “terrorist act”.

Agencies contributed to this story.