Germany charges teenage girl who stabbed policeman with supporting Islamic State

The teenager contacted Islamic State members and asked them to help her plan an attack, prosecutors say

BERLIN: A 16-year-old girl who stabbed a policeman at a train station in Hanover, Germany, was acting under orders from Islamic State, federal prosecutors said.

Safia S., a German-Moroccan dual citizen who is in prison awaiting trial, was charged with attempted murder and with being a supporter of the militant group, the prosecutors said on Monday.

She travelled to Istanbul in January, where she met members of the group who planned to help her enter IS-controlled territory in Syria. Her trip was aborted when her mother brought her back to Germany, where she stabbed and seriously wounded the policeman in February, the prosecution said in a statement.

The Hanover stabbing preceded attacks against civilians in Germany in late July, including two claimed by Islamic State in which only the assailants died.



After being returned to Germany, Safia S. contacted IS members through an online messenger platform and asked them to help her plan an attack, prosecutors said.

They said a 19-year-old Syrian-German who knew about the plan and who is also in custody was charged with failing to report a crime.

The charges against both of the accused were pressed on Aug. 12, the prosecution said. No date for their trials has been set.

The summer attacks put the relatively liberal migration policies implemented by Chancellor Angela Merkel back in the spotlight and prompted her government to draft plans to increase spending on security.