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| Afghan Teenager Spoke of Friend’s Death Before Ax Attack in Germany | Afghan Teenager Spoke of Friend’s Death Before Ax Attack in Germany |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| WÜRZBURG, Germany — Over the weekend, an Afghan teenager who had arrived as a refugee last year told confidants in Germany that he had lost a close friend in Afghanistan, but who had been killed, and how and where, remained unclear. | WÜRZBURG, Germany — Over the weekend, an Afghan teenager who had arrived as a refugee last year told confidants in Germany that he had lost a close friend in Afghanistan, but who had been killed, and how and where, remained unclear. |
| The news seemed to unhinge the 17-year-old, who had been specially selected for foster care because he seemed to be adjusting well to his new life in Germany. His foster family noticed that the normally quiet young man appeared agitated and that he spent a lot of time on his phone. | The news seemed to unhinge the 17-year-old, who had been specially selected for foster care because he seemed to be adjusting well to his new life in Germany. His foster family noticed that the normally quiet young man appeared agitated and that he spent a lot of time on his phone. |
| But when he told them on Monday that he was going out for a bike ride and might be gone for a while, they had no inkling that he had left armed with an ax and a knife, determined to carry out a brutal attack in the name of the Islamic State. | But when he told them on Monday that he was going out for a bike ride and might be gone for a while, they had no inkling that he had left armed with an ax and a knife, determined to carry out a brutal attack in the name of the Islamic State. |
| Hours later, five people were hospitalized — two of them critically — after the teenager slashed them about the head and torso on a passenger train, shouting “Allahu akbar,” or God is great. The Afghan teenager, whom officials did not identify, then fled and attacked a woman walking her dog before he was cornered and killed by the German police. | |
| Coming just days after a Tunisian man ran over and killed 84 people at a Bastille Day celebration in France, the assault in a quiet corner of Germany has once again raised questions about the lure of the Islamic State, for the mentally unstable or distraught who are willing to carry out violence. | Coming just days after a Tunisian man ran over and killed 84 people at a Bastille Day celebration in France, the assault in a quiet corner of Germany has once again raised questions about the lure of the Islamic State, for the mentally unstable or distraught who are willing to carry out violence. |
| Erik Ohlenschlager, the chief prosecutor in Bamberg, who gave the preliminary account of the episode at a news conference in Würzburg, said that the authorities were concerned about the speed with which the young Afghan appeared to have radicalized. He insisted that pending the outcome of their investigation, they could not confirm a link to the Islamic State, which released a video and claimed responsibility for the attack. | |
| “We are aware of the video and are checking whether the identity of the person in it can be confirmed,” Mr. Ohlenschlager said. “It needs to be checked and the content to be analyzed.” | “We are aware of the video and are checking whether the identity of the person in it can be confirmed,” Mr. Ohlenschlager said. “It needs to be checked and the content to be analyzed.” |
| Yet Mr. Ohlenschlager said investigators had already found clues that the attacker sympathized with the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. They included a hand-drawn flag of the Islamic State found in a notebook in his room and an Islamic State symbol printed on the T-shirt he wore during the attack. | Yet Mr. Ohlenschlager said investigators had already found clues that the attacker sympathized with the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. They included a hand-drawn flag of the Islamic State found in a notebook in his room and an Islamic State symbol printed on the T-shirt he wore during the attack. |
| Like his foster family, social workers and teachers who worked with the 17-year-old described him as a religious Muslim, though they said he had not stood out in any way since arriving in Germany on June 30, 2015. | Like his foster family, social workers and teachers who worked with the 17-year-old described him as a religious Muslim, though they said he had not stood out in any way since arriving in Germany on June 30, 2015. |
| He was learning German and was considered well enough integrated to move from the group home he had shared with other unaccompanied minor refugees in Ochsenfurt to live with a foster family. | He was learning German and was considered well enough integrated to move from the group home he had shared with other unaccompanied minor refugees in Ochsenfurt to live with a foster family. |
| “Politically, he was a completely blank page,” Lothar Köhler, who is leading the investigation for the Bavarian state police, said on Tuesday. He said that investigators had learned from people close to the attacker that over the weekend, a good friend of his had died in Afghanistan, but that they had no further details. | “Politically, he was a completely blank page,” Lothar Köhler, who is leading the investigation for the Bavarian state police, said on Tuesday. He said that investigators had learned from people close to the attacker that over the weekend, a good friend of his had died in Afghanistan, but that they had no further details. |
| “This really worries us, that someone who came here a year ago can become radicalized so quickly,” Mr. Ohlenschlager said. | “This really worries us, that someone who came here a year ago can become radicalized so quickly,” Mr. Ohlenschlager said. |
| It is not clear the extent to which the Afghan teenager was connected to the Islamic State. Even so, within hours of the attack, the group claimed responsibility in a bulletin issued in Arabic and English via its Amaq News Agency, calling the teenager an “Islamic State soldier.” | It is not clear the extent to which the Afghan teenager was connected to the Islamic State. Even so, within hours of the attack, the group claimed responsibility in a bulletin issued in Arabic and English via its Amaq News Agency, calling the teenager an “Islamic State soldier.” |
| It also released a video, showing a young man brandishing a knife and saying in Pashto, one of the primary languages in Afghanistan, “I will do a martyrdom operation in Germany today.” | It also released a video, showing a young man brandishing a knife and saying in Pashto, one of the primary languages in Afghanistan, “I will do a martyrdom operation in Germany today.” |
| The group claimed that the young man speaking in the video was the attacker, but German officials refused to confirm the connection, saying that they had not yet had a chance to evaluate it. | |
| Their own investigation turned up a letter written by the young man to his father, in Pashto, saying, “Now pray for me that I can take revenge on these infidels, and that I go to heaven.” | Their own investigation turned up a letter written by the young man to his father, in Pashto, saying, “Now pray for me that I can take revenge on these infidels, and that I go to heaven.” |
| Yet it remains unclear whether the distraught and displaced young man had latched on to the Islamic State and its symbols only in recent days, after receiving the upsetting news about the death of his friend, or whether his sympathies were more deeply rooted. | Yet it remains unclear whether the distraught and displaced young man had latched on to the Islamic State and its symbols only in recent days, after receiving the upsetting news about the death of his friend, or whether his sympathies were more deeply rooted. |
| Experts who study how the Islamic State makes use of social media say the group is quick to claim success for sometimes impulsive acts carried out in its name, and to prey on the propensities for violence of the psychologically disturbed. | |
| “They are much more engaged with people than Al Qaeda,” Michael S. Smith II, a counterterrorism adviser with Kronos Advisory, said of recruiting in the West. | “They are much more engaged with people than Al Qaeda,” Michael S. Smith II, a counterterrorism adviser with Kronos Advisory, said of recruiting in the West. |
| “They train their narratives and push them on social media, adding to the argument that one is compelled to act, whether by going abroad to join them or waging jihad at home,” he said. | “They train their narratives and push them on social media, adding to the argument that one is compelled to act, whether by going abroad to join them or waging jihad at home,” he said. |
| Mr. Ohlenschlager, the prosecutor, said when the man entered the train shortly before 9 p.m., he was recognized by a social worker who knew him. | Mr. Ohlenschlager, the prosecutor, said when the man entered the train shortly before 9 p.m., he was recognized by a social worker who knew him. |
| But he brushed past her into the next carriage, where he locked himself into the bathroom. There, he pulled his weapons out of the bag he had carried and lunged into the next car, shouting three times as he plunged with the ax and knife. | But he brushed past her into the next carriage, where he locked himself into the bathroom. There, he pulled his weapons out of the bag he had carried and lunged into the next car, shouting three times as he plunged with the ax and knife. |
| A family visiting Germany from Hong Kong: a father, 62, and mother, 58, their 26-year-old daughter, and her boyfriend, 30, were all injured in the attack and remained hospitalized. The older couple’s 17-year-old son was unhurt. | |
| Hong Kong’s chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, condemned the attack and sent officials to Germany to provide assistance to the family. | Hong Kong’s chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, condemned the attack and sent officials to Germany to provide assistance to the family. |
| “The two men are more heavily injured, particularly in their heads and torsos,” said Kenneth Tong, a senior immigration officer, while the mother and daughter are in stable condition. | “The two men are more heavily injured, particularly in their heads and torsos,” said Kenneth Tong, a senior immigration officer, while the mother and daughter are in stable condition. |
| The social worker noticed the commotion in the next car and called the police, who were able to hear the shout of “Allahu akbar” in the background through the telephone during the call. | The social worker noticed the commotion in the next car and called the police, who were able to hear the shout of “Allahu akbar” in the background through the telephone during the call. |
| Someone among the 20 passengers pulled the emergency brake, and whether from confusion or panic, the young man forced open a door and fled to the nearby banks of the Main River, Mr. Ohlenschlager said. | |
| There he encountered a woman walking her dog with a friend, and attacked them, too. Lunging at her, he shouted an obscenity and bludgeoned her about the head with his ax, the prosecutor said. The woman is said to be hospitalized with severe injuries. | There he encountered a woman walking her dog with a friend, and attacked them, too. Lunging at her, he shouted an obscenity and bludgeoned her about the head with his ax, the prosecutor said. The woman is said to be hospitalized with severe injuries. |
| The young man then slipped away under cover of the brush and weeds along the riverbank, but the local police, aided by an elite unit with a helicopter that had been diverted from another operation in the area, soon found him. As he tried to lunge at them, the officers opened fire, fatally wounding the young man, authorities said. | The young man then slipped away under cover of the brush and weeds along the riverbank, but the local police, aided by an elite unit with a helicopter that had been diverted from another operation in the area, soon found him. As he tried to lunge at them, the officers opened fire, fatally wounding the young man, authorities said. |
| Mr. Ohlenschlager praised the officers and defended their decision, amid criticism from a politician that it was wrong to fatally shoot the young man. | Mr. Ohlenschlager praised the officers and defended their decision, amid criticism from a politician that it was wrong to fatally shoot the young man. |
| “The attack of the woman walking her dog shows the level of violence that he was capable of,” he said. “It is a tragedy that the perpetrator died, but it would not have been acceptable to let him continue to carry out such violence.” | “The attack of the woman walking her dog shows the level of violence that he was capable of,” he said. “It is a tragedy that the perpetrator died, but it would not have been acceptable to let him continue to carry out such violence.” |
| The attack shook the community of Ochsenfurt, a quaint town downriver from Würzburg. The police surrounded the group home where the teenager had lived until two weeks ago, one of some 150 unaccompanied minor refugees in the area. | The attack shook the community of Ochsenfurt, a quaint town downriver from Würzburg. The police surrounded the group home where the teenager had lived until two weeks ago, one of some 150 unaccompanied minor refugees in the area. |
| Only 10 to 15 were selected to live in families, the result of adapting well and learning German, said Michael Horlemann, who runs the department for youth, social affairs and health for the wider Würzburg area. | Only 10 to 15 were selected to live in families, the result of adapting well and learning German, said Michael Horlemann, who runs the department for youth, social affairs and health for the wider Würzburg area. |
| Discussion of the fallout from the attack dominated noontime banter at the Orient Imbiss takeaway on the edge of the old town. The owner recalled the young Afghans, who would come and buy kebabs, and play a coin or two in the electronic slot machines, as polite and friendly, but very proud. | Discussion of the fallout from the attack dominated noontime banter at the Orient Imbiss takeaway on the edge of the old town. The owner recalled the young Afghans, who would come and buy kebabs, and play a coin or two in the electronic slot machines, as polite and friendly, but very proud. |
| Another man, who would only give his name as Willhelm, said he hoped the attack would not lead to a more violent backlash against the 1.1 million migrants who arrived last year in Germany, which has so far been spared a large-scale terrorist attack like those in France and Belgium. | |
| “We have to hope that people won’t get all worked up about things and lose sight of what is at stake,” he said. | “We have to hope that people won’t get all worked up about things and lose sight of what is at stake,” he said. |