Attack on CSD: Confession Video Found on Suspect's Phone
Three days after the attack on the CSD in Berlin, investigators discovered a video on the phone of the suspect Abdul B. that contains a clear pledge of allegiance to the terrorist group "Islamic State." However, it remains unclear whether the video shows the 21-year-old himself.
In the course of the investigation into the attack on the Christopher Street Day in Berlin, a video with a clear reference to the "Islamic State" (IS) was found on the phone of the alleged attacker Abdul B. As reported by rbb, citing the Federal Prosecutor's Office, the clip shows a fully masked person swearing an oath of allegiance to the terrorist militia.
The examination of the video has not yet been fully completed, but investigators consider it highly likely that the person shown is Abdul B. According to rbb sources, he makes no reference to a planned attack in the video.
One Fatality and Numerous Injured in Attack
Such confession videos have also appeared in past Islamist-motivated attacks, as ARD terrorism expert Michael Götschenberg reports. As a rule, IS itself has published them shortly after an attack in order to claim responsibility for it. Whether the alleged attacker transmitted the video to IS remains unclear.
Abdul B. is alleged to have driven a van into a crowd near the CSD festival grounds on Saturday evening. According to initial investigations, he then allegedly attacked several people with a bladed or blunt weapon. A woman died in the attack. In the immediate aftermath, 29 people were reported injured, some of them seriously. Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner has since spoken of 31 injured persons, without providing further details.
The alleged attacker was initially able to flee. One day after the attack, Abdul B. was shot and killed by police during an operation at an allotment garden site in Berlin-Spandau.
21-Year-Old Was Classified as "High-Risk Individual"
The 21-year-old was born in Germany to Lebanese parents and held German citizenship. He had been known to the authorities for some time. In May, he was sentenced to a juvenile detention term for attempting to join the IS terrorist militia. Taking into account time already served in pre-trial detention, he was released on a form of probationary early release.
Just weeks before the attack, Abdul B. was assessed as a "high-risk individual" by an analytical tool used by the Federal Criminal Police Office, according to research by WDR, NDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ). Surveillance measures against the Islamist had been in place until the very end.
Following the attack, a fresh domestic political debate has erupted over how to handle so-called dangerous individuals.
