A hand-drawn flag resembling the one used by ISIS was found in the room of the man who attacked several people on a train in southern Germany late Monday evening, officials said.
The assailant, armed with a knife and an ax, was shot dead by police after a chase and confrontation, Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said at a news conference Tuesday.
Four passengers on the train — members of the same family and tourists from Hong Kong — were seriously injured, with one in critical condition, he said.
The attacker is a 17-year-old Afghan man living in Ochsenfurt, Bavaria, according to Herrmann.
The teen came to Germany as an unaccompanied minor a year ago, Herrmann said. Two weeks ago, he was taken in by a foster family, he said.
“The first emergency call that the police headquarters received was about a witness who said that the attacker carried out attacks causing serious injuries and he had called out Allahu Akbar,” Herrmann said.
A pro-ISIS media group said the attacker was an “ISIS fighter.” But authorities cast doubt on that claim, and said they have not found a direct link between the attacker and the terror group.
“We have no conclusions yet,” Herrmann said. “We are aware that IS militia has claimed responsibility about this attack. Our current investigation does not confirm this, that this man worked together with Islamists. There’s a lot we have to do with regard to the investigation.”
ISIS didn’t really have a presence in Afghanistan until it first emerged last year in the country’s east, gaining ground often among disaffected Taliban and Afghan youth.
Motive unclear
“This is a big mosaic puzzle right now and we will do everything to pull information together in order to assess his motivation,” Herrmann said.
Besides the hand-drawn or painted flag, police found a text in Pashtu written in Arabic characters and Latin letters, Herrmann said. Authorities were trying to translate and interpret the text, Herrmann said.
“This may give the indication that this is about a person who recently self-radicalized him but we have no firm indications about this so far. But this gives an indication.” Herrmann said.
The attack took place as the train was traveling between Treuchtlingen and Wurzburg. The train made an emergency stop short of the station at Wurzburg-Heidingsfeld and the assailant jumped out of the train, regional police spokesman Lt. Fabian Hench said.
Video from inside the train shows extensive blood on the floor.
“They (police) chased him up, confronted him, the attacker then was very aggressive and attacked the police officers with his ax,” Herrmann said. “And the police opened fire. The attacker then was shot dead.”
The parents of the attacker are still in Afghanistan, and police are trying to investigate his background, Herrmann said.
Germany absorbed more than one million refugees last year. Some have been concerned over the presence of terror groups in the country — both the potential for attackers to slip in with migrants and the concern that they may be able to radicalize disaffected youths.
Three Syrian men were arrested last month on suspicions that they were planning to carry out a mass casualty attack in Dusseldorf.
Many ‘in shock’ after incident
Some 14 to 25 people were classified as “in shock” and treated at the scene after the attack, according to Alexander Gross, a police officer in Bavaria.
There were about 20 to 30 people on the train, according to Gross.
A Deutsche Bahn spokesperson confirmed that train service between the two stations has resumed.