AT LEAST 12 people have been injured after Mohammed Deleel, a Syrian asylum seeker blew himself up outside a wine bar in Germany.
Herrmann said the suspect, who was known to police, had lived in Germany for two years but was denied asylum in the country a year ago.
The suspect, named locally as Mohammed Deleel, pledged allegiance to Islamic State (ISIS) in a video found on his mobile phone.
He said it is unclear if the suspect intended to kill others or just himself but said he had “tried to commit suicide” twice before and had previously been in psychiatric care in the district hospital in Ansbach.
Of the 12 people injured, three were critically injured in the blast, police said.
Now, photographs have emerged of armed police raiding an Ansbach propety, which local media believe to be the residence of the bomber.
Armed police have been seen outside a house in Ansbach
One person has been killed in a blast at an Ansbach wine bar, nine others are hurt
It is terrible that someone abuses the opportunity to find protection here in such a way
At least 12 people were injured in the attack
Ansbach mayor Carda Seidel says the blast was caused by ‘a bomb’
A spokesman for Herrmann said the explosion was a “deliberate” act rather than an accident.
He said: “At present we assume it is not an accident.”
Heavily armed police were at the scene and officers cordoned off the area around the wine bar.
Armed police were at the scene of the attack
The attacker detonated the bomb outside a wine bar
“There were two people on the ground. They had injuries to their heads and necks. I tried to comfort them. The police cleared the area. Nobody was screaming. The explosion was very loud and I felt the shock waves on my body.”A helicopter was seen hovering overhead and rescue workers are on hand to recover any further victims.Police spokesman Michael Konrad said: “The only thing I know is that there has been an explosion, I can not confirm anything else.”
The bombing came at the end of a calamitous week for Germany that began on Monday night in Bavaria when a disturbed Afghan refugee called Riaz Khan Ahmadzai, 17, injured five tourists from Hong Kong aboard a regional train in the state.
Two of his victims sustained severe brain injuries. He was shot dead by police near to the scene.
Literature found at his home showed he had been radicalised into Jihadism.
Police swarm around the wine bar amid reports of a suicide bomber detonating in Ansbach
He then attacked and injured a further five people before the son of the fast food stall rammed him from behind with his BMW car.
The location of the blast, which has killed at least one and injured 11 others
An officer assesses evidence at the scene
They were in a relationship and seen arguing moments before the murderous assault. Police said the attacker is mentally disturbed.Just six hours later came the Ansbach bombing.Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann said in the hours after the explosion, “My personal view is that I think it’s unfortunately very obvious that a real Islamist suicide attack has taken place.
“The perpetrators had a backpack with explosives, in which, at the same time many sharp-edged metal parts were packed. It was a bomb designed to hurt as many people in the area.
“Therefore we must assume that this was no pure act of suicide but that he wanted to kill as many people as possible along with his own destruction.”
Chancellor Angela Merkel, who allowed over a million refugees into Germany in an act of humanitariasm unparelleled in the country’s postwar history, has been left reeling by the week’s events.
Rivals such as the right wing Alternative for Germany party (AfD) have been gloating on the Internet about the attacks which they say are a result of her her policies.
Police said the Ansbach bomber came to Germany two years ago and last year was denied permission to settle in the country. But he was NOT deported…due to the situation in his homeland.
Interior minister Herrmann said he found it “outrageous” that the man – known to police in the town of 40,000 people for petty criminality – had abused the asylum system in such a way.
Emergency services are on hand, desperately trying to help those injured in the large explosion
Others have said they are praying for Ansbach.
