German train attacker vowed 'revenge on the infidels'

[webfact]

German train attacker vowed 'revenge on the infidels'
By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER, DAVID RISING and CHRISTOPH NOELTING

WUERZBURG, Germany (AP) — A 17-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker vowing "revenge on these infidels" went on an ax-and-knife rampage on a train in southern Germany, wounding five people before being shot and killed by police — an attack that German authorities conceded Tuesday was almost impossible to prevent.

German officials didn't identify the attacker or the victims, but Hong Kong's immigration department said among those wounded were four members of a family of five from the southern Chinese city.

The dpa news agency reported the attacker wounded the 62-year-old father, the 58-year-old mother, their adult daughter and her boyfriend. The teenage son was not hurt. The father and the boyfriend had tried to defend the other family members, dpa said.

At least one member of the Chinese family and another woman attacked outside the train were in life-threatening condition, according to Bamberg prosecutor Erik Ohlenschlager.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Monday night train attack, which came less than a week after the Bastille Day truck attack in Nice, France, also claimed by IS, in which 84 people were killed.

Bavaria's top security official Joachim Herrmann said, while the Nice attack was "clearly another dimension," in both cases the choices of weapons and targets made them "extremely difficult to prevent in any fashion."

"In one case a truck, in another an ax and knife — those are the weapons that society cannot logically eliminate, with which any person could equip themselves, which they could put to use at virtually any location at any time of night or day," he said.

Nevertheless, he urged an increased visible police presence across the country.

Germany has not experienced the large, deadly attacks that France and Belgium have, although a string of sexual assaults and robberies on New Year's Eve in Cologne that prosecutors say were committed largely by foreigners gave rise to fears of whether the country could cope with the 1 million migrants it registered in 2015.

As the flow of migrants has slowed this year, the anti-immigrant protests have faded, but the train attack seemed likely to raise concerns again.

In a video posted by the Islamic State that purports to show the attacker — but could not be immediately verified as authentic — the young man calls on others to "kill these infidels in the countries that you live in."

"You can see I have lived in your own home and have planned to behead you in your own territory," the young man says in Pashto while brandishing a knife.

Despite the IS claim of responsibility and a hand-painted IS flag found in the suspect's apartment, authorities said so far they have found no direct links between the suspect and IS and believe that he self-radicalized.

Investigator Lothar Koehler said the teenager's motivation appeared to be Islamic extremism based upon a passage, found among notes in his apartment, which read: "Pray for me that I can take revenge on these infidels and pray for me that I will go to heaven."

In the premeditated attack, the attacker boarded the regional train after 9 p.m. near the Bavarian city of Wuerzburg with an ax and knife concealed in a bag, according to Ohlenschlager. He said the suspect had learned Saturday that a friend had died in Afghanistan.

On the train, the suspect encountered an employee from the asylum shelter where he had lived until two weeks ago when he moved in with a foster family. He didn't respond to her comments but left for another train car, hid in a bathroom and armed himself, Ohlenschlager said.

"Then, without warning, he attacked the passengers using great force on their bodies and their heads," Ohlenschlager said, adding he shouted "Allahu akbar," Arabic for "God is great."

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 and more than a dozen were treated for shock.

After the train made an emergency stop, the suspect fled and ran into two women walking a dog. He attacked one from behind, saying "I'll finish you!" and yelling a vulgar term for a woman in German, as he hit her at least twice in the face with the ax.

Shortly after, he encountered a police SWAT team, jumping out at them from bushes brandishing his ax. He was shot and killed.

Ohlenschlager said at least two victims were suffering from "acute life-threatening" wounds, including the woman attacked outside the train.

In the video posted by the Islamic State's Aamaq news agency, the man claimed he was a soldier "of the Islamic State and will be carrying out an attack in Germany today."

Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff, Peter Altmaier, said on ZDF television the video was still being evaluated but that Germany's security agencies believe it to be authentic.

Herrmann said people close to the attacker told investigators he had seemed to be a calm person, not overtly religious or an extremist. He said investigators were still looking into the evidence found in the teenager's room, including a possible farewell letter to his father.

Koehler said the suspect had registered as a refugee in June 2015, when he crossed into the country from Austria. German authorities sent him to an asylum home for unaccompanied minors in Ochsenfurt. He received asylum in March and had a residency permit.

He was a Sunni Muslim who didn't go to the mosque regularly, but prayed regularly at home, and had not committed any previous crimes in Germany Koehler said.

"He was active on social media, had his page there, but there were no hints of any extremist Islamist thought," Koehler said. "However, 24 hours ago he posted a cryptic message about the enemies of Islam."

Hong Kong's top official, Chief Executive Leung Chun-Ying, condemned the attack and extended his sympathies to the victims and their families.

___

David Rising and Kirsten Grieshaber reported from Berlin.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-07-20

[mesterm]

"Bavaria's top security official Joachim Herrmann said, while the Nice attack was "clearly another dimension," in both cases the choices of weapons and targets made them "extremely difficult to prevent in any fashion."

Yeah, there is one way to prevent it. It's called immigration policy.

[Caps]

Well at least the Police shot and killed him so he won't cost the Germans any money in court, prison and deportation fees,,,at least this dark cloud had a sliver lining

[OMGImInPattaya]

Fighting for the caliphate...at least you have to admire their determination.

[Boon Mee]

Fighting for the caliphate...at least you have to admire their determination.

Rather you need to pity them for their stupidity.

"Diversity is our strength!" - right...

[user82374298374]

Hopefully, God-Emperor Trump will put an end to this kind of nonsense in the United States.

[jerojero]

So many people have died in the name of religion through the ages. Why? Because I'm better than you for believing my religion. Pure arrogance among religions? Or simply those believers justifying violence.

Edited July 20, 2016 by jerojero

[up2u2]

Revenge for the death of his friend in Afghanistan.

Pity the West isn't fully informed of the Drone Strikes that kill many innocent Afghans including women and children. Collateral damage has consequences. Unfortunately the West just sees one side of the issue and are oblivious to what is being done to innocent Muslims in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. Tens of thousands have been killed by the West's military action. Collateral damage in the West is tragic but in the scheme of things trivial when the scope of civilian deaths by the coalition war machine is considered.

As usual a double standard applied. Dead Afghan civilian women and children is of no concern. A handful of dead people in the West and white hot anger is displayed with no regard to the tens of thousands killed in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.

I find both an equal tragedy.

[tomacht8]

The only good thing is the final death shot.
Prefer not know how many of these brain amputated, radical islamist killing machines still running in Europe around freely.

Millions of young men of military age to import from socially dysfunctional islamic countries.
How stupid our politicians are actually?
While our politicians enjoy personal protection, the normal population will be sent to the slaughter bench.
This was certainly not the last attack.

[4737 Carlin]

'the asylum shelter where he had lived until two weeks ago when he moved in with a foster family.' So a family of naive, mentally-ill cucks invited a young soldier from an invading army to live in their home? Germany is finished.

[neverdie]

Revenge for the death of his friend in Afghanistan.

Pity the West isn't fully informed of the Drone Strikes that kill many innocent Afghans including women and children. Collateral damage has consequences. Unfortunately the West just sees one side of the issue and are oblivious to what is being done to innocent Muslims in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. Tens of thousands have been killed by the West's military action. Collateral damage in the West is tragic but in the scheme of things trivial when the scope of civilian deaths by the coalition war machine is considered.

As usual a double standard applied. Dead Afghan civilian women and children is of no concern. A handful of dead people in the West and white hot anger is displayed with no regard to the tens of thousands killed in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.

I find both an equal tragedy.

I can agree with you on this mate!

Well said.

[Boon Mee]

When the Terror-Mongers hide behind their women's skirts, it's sometimes difficult.

But thats why Raqqa has not been completely leveled by now - all the big bad terrorists are hiding with their women and kids.

Edited July 20, 2016 by Boon Mee

[halloween]

Revenge for the death of his friend in Afghanistan.

Pity the West isn't fully informed of the Drone Strikes that kill many innocent Afghans including women and children. Collateral damage has consequences. Unfortunately the West just sees one side of the issue and are oblivious to what is being done to innocent Muslims in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. Tens of thousands have been killed by the West's military action. Collateral damage in the West is tragic but in the scheme of things trivial when the scope of civilian deaths by the coalition war machine is considered.

As usual a double standard applied. Dead Afghan civilian women and children is of no concern. A handful of dead people in the West and white hot anger is displayed with no regard to the tens of thousands killed in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.

I find both an equal tragedy.

Hang about - who is killing the majority of those "innocent Muslims in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq."? Other muslims, that's who.

Now if they don't care about their own people and co-religionists, why should I go all bleeding heart? Why should people with little regard for their own life, even less regard for the lives of their own people, and SFA for the lives of us infidels, get a free pass across the border and then be treated like honoured guests until they decide to pop their cork?

[OMGImInPattaya]

Revenge for the death of his friend in Afghanistan.

Pity the West isn't fully informed of the Drone Strikes that kill many innocent Afghans including women and children. Collateral damage has consequences. Unfortunately the West just sees one side of the issue and are oblivious to what is being done to innocent Muslims in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. Tens of thousands have been killed by the West's military action. Collateral damage in the West is tragic but in the scheme of things trivial when the scope of civilian deaths by the coalition war machine is considered.

As usual a double standard applied. Dead Afghan civilian women and children is of no concern. A handful of dead people in the West and white hot anger is displayed with no regard to the tens of thousands killed in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.

I find both an equal tragedy.

I can agree with you on this mate!

Well said.

Yes, there has been allot of mayheam and deaths in the Middle East at the hands of the West for decades, breeding allot of resentment. That's why it's shear insanity to allow these migrants to settle in Western countries...but this was too complicated a thought for Merkel to wrap her physicist head around.

[mesterm]

Fighting for the caliphate...at least you have to admire their determination.

Rather you need to pity them for their stupidity.

"Diversity is our strength!" - right...

"Diversity is our strength!"

Yet a lot of Muslims are uncomfortable with it. Go figure.

[mesterm]

Revenge for the death of his friend in Afghanistan.

I find both an equal tragedy.

Wonder if all the Hindus in India should similarly attack and kill Muslims to the North, as revenge for the thousands they have killed during their crusades there. Many were even boiled alive in drums of oil.

I find both an equal tragedy.

[neverdie]

Revenge for the death of his friend in Afghanistan.

Pity the West isn't fully informed of the Drone Strikes that kill many innocent Afghans including women and children. Collateral damage has consequences. Unfortunately the West just sees one side of the issue and are oblivious to what is being done to innocent Muslims in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. Tens of thousands have been killed by the West's military action. Collateral damage in the West is tragic but in the scheme of things trivial when the scope of civilian deaths by the coalition war machine is considered.

As usual a double standard applied. Dead Afghan civilian women and children is of no concern. A handful of dead people in the West and white hot anger is displayed with no regard to the tens of thousands killed in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.

I find both an equal tragedy.

I can agree with you on this mate!

Well said.

Yes, there has been allot of mayheam and deaths in the Middle East at the hands of the West for decades, breeding allot of resentment. That's why it's shear insanity to allow these migrants to settle in Western countries...but this was too complicated a thought for Merkel to wrap her physicist head around.

I can agree with that too.

It's funny (I don't mean funny funny either) that for hundreds of years the Middle East has been a blood bath, group a, kills someone from group b, so group b enacts revenge on group a and so back and forth it goes. It then gets even more complicated because people from groups c, d , e and f also lose members, so they set out to seek revenge too.

All they've got is a lot of death and destruction, a booming 'funeral industry' and shiploads of heartache.

So anyway, along Walts the west and they think they should buy into it, afterall, it looks like so much fun.

The leaders of the west, sporting nice fighter jets, fancy missiles and so forth think their homelands will be exempt from the bloodshed, so they goto town. Only problem is, their fancy equipment and miles of vast oceans didn't keep them safe afterall.

You do understand, THERE IS NO END to this problem, for you, me, them and our loved ones, it ends as we die, our children get to inherit the problems.

Perhaps this is hell?

[Krataiboy]

We are reaping what we have sown through meddling in Middle Eastern affairs and subscribing to the EU open door immigration policy designed ultimately to turn Europe into a cheap labour market on a par with the sweatshops of Asia and Africa.

Under the guise of creating a "multicultural society", successive governments have managed to transform Britain into a struggling, low-wage economy, with millions living on the breadline and food banks one of the few growth industries.

This failed experiment in miscegenation has put Europe's most overcrowded country under intolerable strain. We can no longer afford to care properly for our own people let alone the hordes - 330,000 a year at the last count - which continue to flock here from inside and outside the EU.

We don't have enough schools, homes or hospitals - or the money to build them. Public services are already strained to breaking point, with the NHS, once the jewel in the crown of Britain's celebrated welfare state, now visibly dying on its feet for lack of financial nourishment.

But the consequences of mass immigration - particularly of people whose religion and way of life conflicts with those of the developed West - are not simply economic, but social and cultural. Unfortunately, a climate of political correctness has prevented the proper public debate of most of the issues.

The Brexit vote was to some extent a reflection of the reality that many Brits feel their country is no longer their own - and they want to take it back.

Meanwhile, thanks to Blair and his equally misguided Tory successors, we have little choice but to live with the terrorist threat their policies have created- and the unnerving reality that the terrorist enemy is not at the gates, but living in our midst.

[Baerboxer]

Revenge for the death of his friend in Afghanistan.

Pity the West isn't fully informed of the Drone Strikes that kill many innocent Afghans including women and children. Collateral damage has consequences. Unfortunately the West just sees one side of the issue and are oblivious to what is being done to innocent Muslims in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. Tens of thousands have been killed by the West's military action. Collateral damage in the West is tragic but in the scheme of things trivial when the scope of civilian deaths by the coalition war machine is considered.

As usual a double standard applied. Dead Afghan civilian women and children is of no concern. A handful of dead people in the West and white hot anger is displayed with no regard to the tens of thousands killed in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.

I find both an equal tragedy.

The topic is about a religious radical nut case who chose to attack innocent bystanders out of revenge.

Quite frankly, I don't give a <deleted> what happens in Afghanistan and all the "pity" the pc want to heap on terrorists and their supporters. Leave them to the "mercies" of the Taliban and ISIL if they so prefer.

But, nothing justifies the actions of this youth.

[JHolmesJr]

An afghan with no skills that contribute to the economy has no business being in Germany.

What's he going to do?

Mow a lawn/drive a bus/man a supermarket checkout/sweep a subway floor for 80% less than a German…that's all he would be able to accomplish.

Edited July 20, 2016 by JHolmesJr

[JulesMad]

Hopefully, God-Emperor Trump will put an end to this kind of nonsense in the United States.

....and start WWIII and a civil war at home....

God bless USA (and the world!) if blondie really becomes president.... It shows the 'intelligence' of a country

[dunroaming]

Trump has said that he will get rid of IS. So there is no need to worry if you believe he will become President. When asked how he would do it he didn't seem to know, so nothing new there then.

[Scott]

I think we have heard enough about Trump in these threads. Please stay on topic.