‘Isil commander’ detained in Germany in wake of Dortmund attack

The sole suspect in custody for the bomb attack against the Borussia Dortmund football team bus is a member of The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) but there is “no evidence” linking him to the crime, German federal prosecutors admitted.

However they said that they were seeking an arrest warrant to keep the 26-year-old Iraqi national – identified only as Abdul Beset A. – in detention over allegedly having been a “member of the Islamic State group” who is believed to have led a unit of 10 fighters in Iraq.

Abdul Beset A. was detained in connection with the three explosions that rocked the Borussia Dortmund bus on Tuesday evening, injuring a player and a police officer.

Federal prosecutors have called it a “terrorist” attack and said they are focusing on suspects in the “Islamist spectrum”.

But in a statement Thursday they acknowledged: “The investigation has not found evidence that the suspect took part in the attack.” They said, however, that they now believe Abdul Beset A. joined the Islamic State group in Iraq in late 2014 and was the commander of a unit of around 10 fighters. Abdul Beset A. will appear before a judge on Thursday, who will decide on prosecutors’ application for an arrest warrant.