Wuerzburg, Germany, 19 Jul (ANA) - A hand-painted flag of so-called Islamic State has been found in the room of an Afghan refugee accused of carrying out an axe and knife attack on a southern German train, officials say.The 17-year-old injured four people from Hong Kong, two critically, in the attack in Wuerzburg on Monday evening. He was shot dead by police as he fled.He had shouted Allahu akbar" ("God is great"), a witness said.The IS-linked Amaq news agency said the teenager was an IS "fighter".

It said he had "carried out the operation in answer to the calls to target the countries of the coalition fighting the Islamic State".

The attack comes days after a lorry ploughed into a crowd in Nice in France, killing 84 people. The self-styled Islamic State said one of its followers had carried out that attack.Joachim Herrmann, the interior minister of the state of Bavaria, told German TV the flag had been found among the teenager's belongings in his room in his foster home in the nearby town of Ochsenfurt. Mr Herrmann said it was too early to say whether the teenager was a member of an Islamist group or had become self-radicalised in recent times. Two of those injured are in a critical condition. Another woman was injured outside the train as the man fled. Fourteen people were treated for shock. The Afghan teenager, who had claimed asylum after travelling to Germany as an unaccompanied minor, had been living with the foster family since moving from a refugee centre in the town. Investigators are talking to the foster family. Last year Germany registered more than one million migrants, including more than 150,000 Afghans, although the number has slowed dramatically this year since new EU measures were taken to stop the flow.

The South China Morning Post said it was believed four of the people injured were a 62-year-old man, his 58-year-old wife, their daughter, 27, and her boyfriend, 31, from Hong Kong. The 17-year-old son travelling with them was not hurt, it said. A source told the paper the father and boyfriend had tried to protect the other members of the group. Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has condemned the attack and expressed his sympathy to the victims. Immigration officials from the city will accompany family members to Germany.(ANA)

FA/ANA/19 July 2016-------