Solingen stabbings suspect motivated by ideology of Islamic State, prosecutors say

Prosecutors have said the suspect arrested over a stabbing rampage in the western German city of Solingen shares the radical ideology of the Islamic State and was acting on those beliefs when he launched his attack.

- Jennifer Rankin

The 26-year-old Syrian man, who turned himself in, was identified by federal prosecutors as Issa AI H, with his last name omitted in line with German privacy laws.

A judge at the federal court of justice in Karlsruhe ordered that he be held on suspicion of murder and membership of a terrorist organisation in connection with the knife attack on Friday, which left three dead and eight wounded at a festival marking the city's 650th anniversary.

In a statement, the Office of the Federal Prosecutor said he "shares the ideology of the foreign terrorist organisation Islamic State" and on the basis of his "radical Islamic convictions" decided "to kill the largest possible number of those he considers unbelievers" at the festival.

On Saturday the extremist group claimed responsibility for the attack without providing any evidence.