Syrian migrant killed by own bomb at German bar

Berlin, July 25

A Syrian migrant set off an explosion at a bar in southern Germany that killed himself and wounded a dozen others, authorities said, the third attack to hit Bavaria in a week.

The 27-year-old, who had spent a stint in a psychiatric facility, had intended to target a music festival in the city of Ansbach but was turned away because he did not have a ticket.

“Unfortunately, this is a terrible new attack which will surely increase people's anxiety,” regional interior minister Joachim Herrmann said, adding that investigators “have not ruled out” he had an Islamist motive.

Hermann said he was worried "the right to asylum would be undermined" by the events of the past week, which has seen attacks on a train and shopping mall in the southern German state.

The explosion happened just outside a bar in Ansbach city centre, not far from where more than 2,000 people had gathered for the concert.

In Bavaria, which has been a gateway for thousands of Syrian refugees, nine died in a shooting rampage in Munich on Friday and several people were wounded in an axe attack on a train near Wuerzburg. — AFP