A large majority of Germans do not blame Chancellor Angela Merkel's refugee policy for two attacks last month carried out by asylum seekers, according to a poll. Both attacks were claimed by "Islamic State."
The Berlin-based pollster Forsa found that 69 percent of respondents do not believe there is a link between the two attacks claimed by "IS" in the southern state of Bavaria last month and the nearly one million refugees who entered the country last year.
On July 24, a Syrian refugee who had been denied asylum and was awaiting deportation to Bulgaria blew himself up outside a festival in Ansbach, killing only himself.
Six days earlier, a 17-year-old believed to be from either Afghanistan or Pakistan wielded an ax on a train in Würzberg, wounding five people before being shot dead by police. Investigators said the two attacks were tied to IS.
The poll found only 28 percent of Germans blame Merkel's refugee policy for the attacks. Of those, 78 percent were supporters of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has seen its nationwide support rise to about 12 percent on the heels of rising German angst over immigration. [Deutsche Welle] Read more
