Police probe Berlin knife attacker for militant motive

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BERLIN: Berlin police said Tuesday they were unable to rule out a militant background after a “deranged” Syrian knifeman was arrested over an attack in one of the German capital’s underground stations.

Witnesses said the 23-year-old, identified as Ahmad Al-H., attacked several people with a knife “for no apparent reason” at the Bayerischer Platz station in southwestern Berlin on New Year’s Eve, according to a police report.

But the Tagesspiegel newspaper reported that he had asked one 50-year-old German man his nationality and called him an “infidel” before stabbing him.

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The man suffered a light injury but declined medical treatment, police said.

Other people attacked by the knife wielder including a mother with a young child escaped unharmed, according to Tagesspiegel.

Police said only that the attacker — who the paper reported was known to officers after being involved in several brawls — “seemed deranged” when they arrested him in response to emergency calls.

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Following the arrest, officers brought the knifeman to a clinic and had him examined by a psychiatrist.

“We can’t confirm or deny (the reports), we are checking whether there may be an terrorist background,” a police spokesperson told AFP.

The investigation has been passed to a unit which deals with politically motivated crimes, according to the police report.

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Mysterious knife attacks

The police are still investigating the cases from various angles and trying to arrest the culprits