Berlin, Aug 5 (dpa/GNA) – The Islamist attacker who ploughed a van into the crowd on the sidelines of Berlin Pride, has been buried in the city’s Spandau district, a police spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
One person was killed and 31 were injured, when 21-year-old Abdul B, drove into a crowd in central Berlin late on July 25, before attacking people with a machete. He was shot dead by police the following day, after allegedly attacking officers when they were trying to arrest him in an allotment in Spandau, on the outskirts of Berlin.
Several officers were deployed to the burial at the cemetery in Spandau, the spokeswoman said, adding that there had been no disruptions. Many questions remain unanswered more than a week after the attack, including why Abdul B, who had been known to domestic intelligence as a radicalized Islamist, was allowed to walk free despite a previous conviction.
In May, Abdul B was convicted and sentenced to 22 months under Germany’s juvenile justice system for attempting to join Islamic State in Syria. However, the court lifted his detention order and he was released from custody.
Federal prosecutors have said a video claiming responsibility was found on the suspect’s mobile phone. The footage shows a masked person, believed to be Abdul B, pledging allegiance to the Islamic State militant group.
Following a special session of the Home Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said he had pledged to deliver a full chronology of the events, as well as prior action taking by authorities regarding Abdul B.
GNA