Solingen attack also fits the threat assessment of the Netherlands, says minister

The deadly attack in the German city of Solingen, which was claimed by the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS), "unfortunately also fits into the current threat picture in the Netherlands," Minister David van Weel (Justice and Security) wrote on X.

De verschrikkelijke aanslag in Duitsland is opgeëist door IS. Mijn gedachten gaan uit naar de slachtoffers en hun dierbaren. De gebeurtenis past helaas ook bij het huidige dreigingsbeeld in Nederland, zoals vastgesteld door de NCTV. Er is een verdachte aangehouden.

— David van Weel (@ministerjenv) August 25, 2024

Van Weel refers to the latest threat assessment by the National Counter-Terrorism and Security Coordinator (NCTV). The NCTV wrote in June that the risk of an attack in the Netherlands has risen slightly in the last six months. The second-highest threat level has been in place since December, which means there is a real chance of an attack.

Jihadism remains the main terrorist threat to the Netherlands, with supporters being "fed by propaganda with images of the war in Gaza and violations of the Koran in the Netherlands. Over the past six months, such images have led to various (preparations for) terrorist acts of violence in the Netherlands and Europe," the NCTV reported.

The minister calls the bloody knife attack in Solingen, which is an hour's drive from the Dutch border, a "terrible attack." Three people were killed, and eight were injured. "My thoughts go out to the victims and their loved ones," Van Weel said.

On Saturday evening, the police arrested a suspect in connection with the fatal knife attack in Solingen. North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Herbert Reul spoke of a "real suspect" the police had been looking for on Saturday. A police spokeswoman confirmed on Sunday morning that the suspect was a 26-year-old man from Syria, German newspaper Tagesspiegel reported.

The suspect reported to a police patrol after the police raid on a refugee shelter in Solingen. "A person encountered there, who is said to have had contact with the initially unknown perpetrator, was taken to a police station," German police said on Saturday.

According to various German media, the 26-year-old suspect is a Syrian refugee who came to Germany at the end of 2022 and applied for asylum. He is not registered with the security services as an Islamist terrorist, sources told the German news magazine Der Spiegel.

The terrorist organization Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack in Germany on Saturday.