Sweden attacker identified as 22-year-old Afghan

From Arab News and Norway Today. That some of the first newspapers in English expressing an interest in this attack yesterday were Indian and Middle Eastern publications reinforced my suspicions that the attacker was not going to be an animal rights extremist or some other even-handed terrorist. 

STOCKHOLM: The suspect in the stabbing that left seven injured in Sweden is a 22-year-old Afghan, who arrived in the Nordic country in 2018, media reported Thursday.

The suspect … has previously been convicted in drug cases and for cannabis use, according to information from the Swedish newspaper. “The man is known to the police from before, for minor crimes,” said leader of the police district Höglandet at a press conference on Wednesday. Police searched the man’s apartment on Wednesday. 

“There are details in the investigation that make us investigate any terrorist motives,” said the chief of the police region Malena Grann at a press conference on Wednesday night. The extent of his injuries were also unknown but police said they believed they would be able question him.

Much of the circumstances surrounding the attack and the course of events are still unknown. A police statement early Thursday revised the number of injured in the attack to seven from eight but did not give further details. he suspect, who is in his twenties, was taken to hospital after being shot in the leg by police following the mid-afternoon attack in the southern city of 13,000 inhabitants.
Speaking to AFP, police said the man had used a “sharp weapon,” while local media reported that he had brandished a knife.

Three of those attacked were said to have suffered life-threatening injuries, while two others were in serious condition, according to the local health authority in Jonkoping where they were being treated in hospital.