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Alleged Isis sympathizer attacks police with knife

A woman who had converted to Islam and possessed Isis paraphernalia attacked police in western Germany with a utility knife on Sunday before officers could overpower her.

Alleged Isis sympathizer attacks police with knife
Photo: DPA.

Police were first called to the 53-year-old woman’s apartment building in Mülheim an der Ruhr, North Rhine-Westphalia, on Sunday morning after she had started throwing home furnishings like lamps, stools and books out her window and onto the street below.

Officers asked her to open her door, but she refused and continued to throw more objects out of the window. Police then decided to kick in her door to enter.
 
The woman then came at the officers, making stabbing motions as she held a utility knife and shouted “Allahu akbar” (God is the greatest). But police used pepper spray, threatened her with their guns and were then able to overpower her.
 
She was lightly injured during the encounter and taken to a psychiatric clinic.
 
Police said they found flags inside her apartment that indicated she was a supporter of terror group Isis.
 
The woman was born in Thuringia and had converted to Islam. A police spokesman said she had already previously been known to police for Islamist-motivated crimes, though the spokesperson did not elaborate.
 
It is still unclear why the woman had started throwing furniture out the window.