25 July 2016•Update: 26 July 2016
By Ayhan Simsek
BERLIN
A Syrian migrant who blew himself up and wounded 15 people in Germany on Sunday night was seen pledging allegiance to the leader of the terrorist Daesh group in a video found on his phone, officials said Monday.
Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told a news conference in Nurnberg that initial investigations by the police revealed the 27-year old failed asylum seeker apparently had the intention of a revenge attack in Germany.
“In the phone of the suspect we have found a video recorded by him where he threatened an attack,” Herrmann said.
“According to the first provisional translation of this video from Arabic, he has pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,” he said, referring to the leader of the terrorist Daesh group, also known as ISIL.
However, Herrmann also said that officials have not yet found any evidence showing direct contact between the suspect and the terrorist group.
The Syrian blew himself up Sunday night at the entrance to an open-air music festival in the southern German city of Ansbach after being denied entry, apparently for not having a ticket.
Fifteen people were injured, three seriously. The festival, attended by around 2,000 people, was cancelled following the blast.
It was not immediately clear on Monday whether the suspect deliberately activated the bomb in his backpack at the entrance to the music festival. The bomb was packed with shrapnel, according to officials.
Police said the suspect had previously received psychiatric treatment in the city, and was known to police for trying to commit suicide twice before. He was also known for drug offenses.
The Syrian man arrived in Germany nearly two years ago but his application for asylum was rejected, as he had already been given “subsidiary protection” status in Bulgaria, his first entry point in the European Union.
