A deadly knife attack in Germany on Friday prompted a stark warning against a “new wave of terrorism”.
Police confirmed that a 26-year-old Syrian asylum seeker arrested in connection with the attack had “handed himself in and pleaded guilty”.
On Saturday, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, which is believed to have been carried out by Islamic State members.
ISIS called the man who carried out the attack an “Islamic State soldier” and said he “carried out the attack in revenge against Muslims in Palestine and around the world.”
Three people were killed and eight injured in a knife attack in western Germany on Friday.
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The Evening Standard's defence editor, Robert Fox, claimed to GB News there were “real fears” that this was “the start of a new wave” of terrorism.
“There should be strong concern that this is the beginning of something, a new wave, because we're in a new political cycle,” Fox said of the incident.
“There are three very important local elections coming up in Germany and the AfD party is taking a very strong stance in that they are very concerned about the immigrant population.”
Discussing the city where the attack took place, Fox said the area is a “particularly sensitive area” when it comes to immigration because of its “close proximity to the Dutch border.”
A 26-year-old Syrian asylum seeker was arrested on suspicion of the attack.
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Mr Fox added: “There has been trouble there before. At the moment the German authorities, particularly in North Rhine-Westphalia, are being very careful about the case but are adamant they have caught the prime suspect behind it.”
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Presenter Martin Daubney gave his take on the police response to the attack, highlighting how authorities were “slow” to establish “the profile of the attacker” because of “cultural sensitivities”.
Mr Martin told GB News: “The reality is that these knife attacks are shockingly frequent in Germany, with several occurring in the last year alone, and seem to point to a growing problem of domestic and Islamic terrorism in Germany, and elsewhere too.”
Defending German authorities, Fox responded: “I think the reason they were being so careful in announcing who they were looking for is because they quickly arrested a 15-year-old boy who was seen talking to the suspect.”
“I would very clearly infer from that that they knew who they were after and they wanted to get that person.”
Robert Fox argued that police did not immediately release a description of the attacker because they “knew who they were targeting”.
GB News
Discussing the attack's links to Islamic State, Fox said it was “deeply disturbing” and described the nature of the attack as “very much in the Islamic State's style”.
“What's worrying is that this is straight out of the Islamic State playbook – is this a lone wolf, taking advantage of an opportunity? That's why the Dutch border guard was immediately put on alert. They're a very powerful police force. You can see that the Marehuizeen is a very powerful anti-terrorism organisation,” Fox said.
“Are we experiencing a new wave of Islamic terrorism? Because that is a concern. I don't want to scare you too much, but I think that this is a concern as a possible manifestation of the terrible problems that are going on in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Israel and in the Middle East.”
“This may be a relatively local issue, but it's a sign of something very serious. I think everyone should be vigilant.”
