The Latest: Bavarian official demands more police

BERLIN (AP) - The Latest on a series of attacks in Germany (all times local):

2:40 p.m.

Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann says the Islamic State group "is waging a brutal war of aggression ... against our way of life."

In a news conference with Bavarian Governor Horst Seehofer, Herrmann called for better security and more police. Three of last week's attacks took place in Bavaria.

Seehofer says that Germany's people "are justifiably expecting that we face this courageously."

He adds: "We must do whatever necessary to protect our citizens."

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11:30 a.m.

Germany's federal prosecutor's office says its investigation of the attack in the Bavarian town of Ansbach that was claimed by the extremist Islamic State group is focusing on the question on whether the attacker acted alone or had accomplices.

A spokeswoman for the office, which investigates all suspected terrorism in Germany, said Tuesday that "we're especially pursuing the question on whether the attacker in Ansbach was helped in the planning and preparation." The spokeswoman talked on condition of anonymity in line with department policy.

A 27-year-old Syrian asylum-seeker set off a backpack laden with explosives and shrapnel Sunday night after being refused entry to a crowded music festival in the Bavarian city of Ansbach, killing himself and wounding 15 people.

-by Kirsten Grieshaber

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9:45 a.m.

Top security officials in Germany are calling for tougher security screening of asylum-seekers and have also announced that more police officers will be hired following four attacks in the country - two of them claimed by the extremist Islamic State group.

Horst Seehofer, the governor of Bavaria - where three of last week's attacks took place - told the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung Tuesday: "we must know who is in our country."

Thomas Strobl, the interior minister of Baden-Wuerttemberg - where a woman was killed by a Syrian attacker Sunday - also demanded a tougher stance toward asylum-seekers.

Three of the attacks were carried out by recent immigrants, rekindling concerns about Germany's ability to cope with the estimated 1 million migrants registered entering the country last year.

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9:05 a.m.

The extremist Islamic State group has published a video in which a man pledges allegiance to IS and vows Germany's people "won't be able to sleep peacefully anymore." It appears to be the same as the one found by German investigators on the phone of man who blew himself, killing himself and wounding 15 people.

The IS-linked Aamaq news agency released the video early Tuesday. The man on the video, his face covered with a black scarf, threatens to make life intolerable and that "we will blow up your homes."

German authorities could not immediately be reached to confirm whether the video was the same as the one found on the cell phone of a 27-year-old Syrian who blew himself Sunday night in the Bavarian town of Ansbach.

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The item timed at 9:45 a.m. has been corrected to say that Seehofer is Bavaria governor, not interior minister.