Sweden Attacker Identified As 22-year-old Afghan: Media

Stockholm, March 4 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Mar, 2021 ) :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.

Swedish police are investigating a possible terror incident after a man stabbed and injured at least seven people in the city of Vetlanda on Wednesday.

A police statement early Thursday revised the number of injured in the attack to seven from eight but did not give further details.

The 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.

Police initially treated the incident as "attempted murder" but later changed it in a statement to include a "suspected terrorist crime", without giving further details.

Police did not specify the man's nationality, but according to several media reports, he was originally from Afghanistan and had arrived in Sweden in 2018.

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.

Regional police chief Malena Grann later clarified that a preliminary investigation was still under the designation "attempted murder," but details had emerged that meant they were also looking into "potential terror motives.""There are details in the investigation that have led us to investigate whether there was a terror motive," Grann said, without giving details.

He added that the police were working closely with the Swedish intelligence service Sapo.