The suspected attacker in Solingen, Issa Al H., was scheduled for deportation to Bulgaria in early 2023. However, he disappeared for months before reappearing in Solingen.
Failed deportation and disappearance
Issa Al H., a Syrian national who allegedly carried out a knife attack in Solingen on Friday, resulting in three deaths, was supposed to be deported from Germany last year. His asylum application had been rejected, as reported by the newspaper WELT from official sources, although no official confirmation has been provided yet.
WELT learned that authorities had already scheduled a deportation date for Al H., who was living in Paderborn in early 2023. He was to be deported to Bulgaria, the country where he first entered the European Union. According to the Dublin Regulation, the country of first entry is responsible for processing the asylum application.
Despite the deportation being scheduled, it never occurred. According to WELT, Issa Al H. became untraceable, going underground for several months before reappearing. As a result, the deportation was temporarily canceled, and the Syrian was “relocated” to Solingen, as stated in bureaucratic terms.
Background and current status
According to official documents obtained by WELT, Issa Al H., born on January 20, 1998, in Deir ez-Zor, Syria, had been living in a refugee home in the city center of Solingen until recently. Before the alleged attack, he had no criminal record and was never suspected of extremism.
On Saturday evening, Issa Al H. turned himself in to a police patrol in Solingen, claiming to be the person they were searching for. He is now in police custody. Investigations are underway on suspicion of his membership in the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS). The suspect was presented to an investigative judge at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe on Sunday.
Issa Al H. spent the night in a cell at the Solingen police station. On Sunday afternoon, special forces escorted him to a vehicle, as shown in a drone image. He was then flown to Karlsruhe by helicopter.
IS claims responsibility
Also on Saturday evening, the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement via their media outlet Amak, IS stated that the attacker was a member of their group and carried out the attack “in revenge for Muslims in Palestine and elsewhere.” The attack was reportedly aimed at a “group of Christians.”
