Germany stabbing sparks concern for ‘new wave’ of Islamic terrorism across Europe: ‘A real fear’
A stark warning has been issued for a “new wave of terrorism” following a mass knife attack in Germany on Friday.
Police have confirmed that a 26-year-old Syrian asylum seeker who has been arrested on suspicion of the attack “handed himself in and admitted to the crime”.
On Saturday, Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack and the suspected attack is also believed to be a member of Islamic State.
On Telegram, ISIS described the man who carried out the attack as a “soldier of the Islamic State” and that he “carried out the attack in revenge for Muslims in Palestine and everywhere”.
Speaking to GB News, Defence Editor at the Evening Standard, Robert Fox, claimed there is a “real fear” that this is the “beginning of a new wave” of terrorism.
Fox said of the incident: “There must be a real fear that this is the beginning of something, a new wave, because we’re coming into a new cycle of politics.
“There are three quite important regional elections coming up in Germany, in which the AfD Party have made a strong stance of being deeply concerned migrant populations.”
Discussing the city in which the attack took place, Fox revealed that the area is “particularly sensitive” in regards to migration, as it is “close to the Dutch border”.
Fox added: “There have been troubles there before, and at the moment the German authorities, particularly in North Rhine-Westphalia, have been very careful about how they’ve labeled this, but they’ve been quite emphatic in that they have said that they have got the prime suspect now who was behind it.”
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Offering his verdict on the police’s handling of the attack, host Martin Daubney highlighted how authorities were “slow” to reveal the “description of the attacker”, possibly due to “cultural sensitivities”.
Martin told GB News: “The fact of the matter is these knife attacks are becoming alarmingly common in Germany. There have been several in this past year alone, and it does seem to show that there is a growing issue with domestic terrorism, Islamic terrorism within Germany and indeed elsewhere.”
In defence of the German authorities, Fox responded: “I think that the caution in announcing who they were looking for is because they arrested, quite quickly, a 15-year-old boy who had been seen talking to the suspect.
“I infer from that very clearly that they knew who they wanted, and they wanted to get him.”
Turning the discussion to the attack’s connection to Islamic State, Fox explained that it is “very worrying”, and the nature of the attack is “straight out of the IS playbook”.
Fox said: “What is worrying is this is straight out of the old Islamic State playbook. Is this a lone wolf, taking his opportunity That’s why the Dutch border police were alerted right away, they’re a very powerful police force. The Marechaussee shows a very big anti-terror, anti-terror background.
“Are we coming in for a new wave of Islamic terrorism? Because this has been feared. I think that without scaring the horses too much, this has been feared, that it might be one of the play outs from the terrible problem going on in Gaza, the West Bank and in Israel and in the Middle East.
“It may be more local, but it is a symptom of what may be very serious. And I think everybody everybody is on an alert.”