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Sunday, July 24

Bombing in Ansbach Germany injures 12, kills Syrian bomber; bomb packed with shrapnel

Details are still sketchy. 

> The incident occurred around 10 PM local time outside a wine bar or cafe that was being frequented by attendees at a music festival. (New York Daily News - updated 10:47 PM EDT). From Daily News report:
The blast rocked an entrance to the Anbach Open festival near a wine bar in the Bavarian city 90 miles northwest of Munich. The attacker seriously wounded three people at around 10 p.m., authorities said.
Police believe the attacker acted alone and detonated the device when he was unable to produce a ticket, according to Der Spiegel
> The bomber, who was killed in the blast, has been identified as 27 year old Syrian refugee. (All news sources).  

> Police found enough bomb material in his backpack or rucksack to kill/injure several people. (Not clear on whether this material was in addition to the bomb that was detonated.) The music festival attracted a large number of attendees.  (Sputnik - 05:47 Russia time).

> The bomb that detonated had been packed with shrapnel; police said it was designed to kill and injure many more people than it did. (RT live TV update about 45 minutes ago and at their website. 

>  Three of the injured are in critical condition. (Daily News, RT TV live update 30 minutes ago)        

> It's not certain that this was a suicide bombing; the bomber wasn't immediately killed but succumbed to his injuries a short time later.  "His injuries were consistent with the close detonation of an unknown explosive device, leading authorities to believe that he was the perpetrator." (RT early report)

>  What's known presently about the perp from RT report 25 Jul, 2016 02:03 edited 02:34:

Bavarian authorities have announced that the suspected suicide bomber, who was killed in the Ansbach explosion, had been a 27-year-old Syrian whose asylum request was rejected last year. The motive behind the attack, which injured 12 people, remains unknown.

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The attacker was a 27-year-old Syrian who had entered the country about 2 years ago, but was refused asylum, Bavarian authorities told a press conference. His application was rejected a year ago but the man was allowed to stay in Germany temporarily, due to ongoing hostilities in Syria.

Police say they do not yet know if the attacker had any radical Islamist background. The investigations is currently focused on attacker’s communications.

The suspect lived abroad in a hotel in Ansbach, the minister said. He had tried to commit suicide two times and was previously housed in a psychiatric hospital. In the coming days, the investigation will focus on establishing whether the man acted with suicidal intent, Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told journalists.

So far, the investigation has found no evidence of an attempted political assassination or extremism, but such a possibility cannot be ruled out. The type of explosives detonated has not yet been established, but Hermann said that “metal parts” were apparently used in the improvised device.

A jihadist link cannot be excluded either, the minister said, since the presence of metal parts in the bomb indicates that the suspect had aimed to hurt as many people as possible.

[END RT REPORT]

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