Würzburg train attack

On 18 July 2016, Afghan refugee Riaz Khan Ahmadzai attacked and injured four people, two critically, on a train near Würzburg in Germany . A fifth person was injured outside. The attacker was a 17-year-old asylum seeker , armed with a knife and hatchet. The state office of criminal investigations called it a terrorist attack with an Islamist religious motive. The attack happened at around 21:00 CEST on a train traveling on the line between Treuchtlingen and Würzburg . The victims (a husband, wife, their daughter and her boyfriend) were from Hong Kong . A fifth victim, attacked outside the train, was a local woman. Fourteen witnesses were treated for shock . The attacker tried to flee and was shot dead by Special Deployment Commandos after they confronted him and he tried to attack them with the hatchet. German authorities later discovered evidence showing that the perpetrator, identified as Riaz Khan Ahmadzai, was in contact with a suspected Islamic State member and had originally been asked to drive a car into a crowd of people. Ahmadzai declined this suggestion as he was not able to drive the car. Instead, he told his contact that he would plan and carry out a train attack. New York Times . 19 July 2016 . The Guardian . 19 July 2016 . "Hand-painted Isis flag 'found in room of train attacker' " . thelocal.de. 19 July 2016 . He was then shot dead by police as he began to attack officers with the axe.¹