German prosecutors probe suspected Islamist stabbings

German federal prosecutors said Friday they were investigating a 26-year-old Syrian man for two separate knife attacks in the western city of Duisburg, where an Islamist motive was suspected.

The federal prosecutor's office, which generally investigates cases including terrorist incidents, was taking over the probe from local authorities due to its particular significance, a spokeswoman said.

The Syrian man was arrested by police over the weekend in relation to a stabbing at a city centre gym last week, which left four men severely injured.

The suspect initially evaded law enforcement but was identified after police shared CCTV images from the night of the incident.

Investigators said Tuesday they had found indications that the attack had an Islamist motive, following a search of the suspect's phone.

The same man was subsequently linked to a separate fatal stabbing of a 35-year-old man in Duisburg over the Easter weekend, earlier in April.

Investigators found DNA evidence at the scene of the crime and on the shoes of the 26-year-old that linked him to the suspected murder, Duesseldorf prosecutors said Thursday.

The victim in the Easter incident suffered numerous stab wounds and cuts and died a few hours after the attack.

The suspect is currently being held in custody while the investigation is ongoing.

Separately, German police on Tuesday arrested a 28-year-old Syrian man in relation to a suspected jihadist plan to use a homemade bomb against civilian targets.

Islamist extremists have committed several violent attacks in Germany in recent years, the deadliest being a truck rampage at a Berlin Christmas market in December 2016 that killed 12 people.

In another case, an extremist and his wife were jailed in 2020 for planning a biological bomb attack in Germany with the deadly poison ricin.