ISIS Flag Found in Room of Train Attacker

Authorities say they've found an Islamic State flag in the home of the 17-year-old Afghan migrant shot dead Monday after slashing five people in Germany. The hand-painted flag was found in the teen's room in his foster home in Ochsenfurt, where he had only lived for two weeks, along with a text in Pashtun showing the migrant may have been "self-radicalized," says Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann. An ISIS-linked news agency describes the teen as an ISIS "fighter" who "carried out the operation in answer to the calls to target the countries of the coalition fighting the Islamic State," per the BBC. People who knew the teen—who arrived in Germany about two years ago—say he was calm and quiet, visiting a mosque "on special occasions," but never showed signs of radical behavior.

Meanwhile, authorities say four victims of the attack are from Hong Kong, though it doesn't appear they were targeted for that reason. The South China Morning Post identifies the injured as a 62-year-old man; his 58-year-old wife; their 27-year-old daughter; and her boyfriend, 31. A source tells the paper that the men—both of whom are critically injured—tried to protect the women. Another witness adds the train compartment "looked like a slaughterhouse." Herrmann says the suspect—whom a witness reported hearing shout "Allahu Akbar"—fled the train in the town of Heiligenfeld, attacked a local woman, then tried to assault police before he was killed, reports Reuters. Though migrants arriving in Germany have dwindled recently, the BBC notes the attack brought out "racist and xenophobic comments against asylum seekers" on Twitter. (More Germany stories.)