Islamic State has released a video which claims to be of the young man who attacked passengers on a Wuerzburg train, as police reveal a possible motive behind the killings.
Muhammad Riyad, the 17-year-old Afghan refugee #Würzburg train attacker, recorded this video threatening attacks.https://t.co/Q2wsOejuLt
— Spectator (@unspectateur) July 19, 2016
The Wuerzburg train attacker, now identified as Muhammed Riyad, can be seen on a new video released by Islamic State in which he describes his intentions to carry out an act of terror on “infidels”.
The video was released on the Islamic State-affiliated media group known as Amaq and shows Riyad speaking to the camera declaring his allegiance to the radical Islamic terror group, reports Die Welt.
“I am a soldier of the caliphate and I will carry out a holy attack in Germany. O kafir [infidel], the time has passed when you would come to our homeland and kill our men, women, and children,” said Riyad.
The admission, in the short two-minute video, confirms prior suspicions that the attack was carried out on behalf of the terror group who have claimed responsibility previously via social media.
Riyad also made threats that further attacks are on the horizon in Europe, saying that Islamic State sponsored terrorism would attack Europeans “in every village, city, and airport”.
Initially the authenticity of the video was in question but it was confirmed to be real by several prominent figures in Germany. President of the German Federal Police (BKA) Holger Münch confirmed that the video was in fact of the attacker. When asked on German broadcaster ZDF if he thought the video was genuine he affirmed: “We do not doubt.”
Mr. Münch has faced criticism on social media and elsewhere for his enthusiasm for prosecuting so-called “hate posters” online while migrant crime has soared in Germany.
Chancellery Minister Peter Altmaier of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) also told the media he thought the video was real. “The inspections are still ongoing, but the security agencies believe that this video is in all probability authentic,” he said. Mr. Altmaier also said that the government was now seriously looking at Islamic State connections that Riyad may have had.
According to initial police investigations, information found on the mobile phone of the attacker could shed light on his motivation. Police director Lothar Koehler claims that the attack may have been provoked by the death of the Riyad’s friend in Afghanistan who Riyad had learned had been killed on Saturday. “This news probably left a lasting impression on him,” Mr. Koehler said.
Police are still investigating who Riyad was in contact with, and the possibility they may have ties to terrorism or Islamic State.
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