Stockholm blasts kill one and injure two

[tantalus]

BBC News - Stockholm blasts kill one and injure two

One person has been killed and two others injured as two explosions rocked the centre of the Swedish capital, Stockholm, police say.

A car blew up near the busy shopping street of Drottninggatan, and another explosion hit nearby minutes later.

Swedish press attributed the second blast to a suicide bomber but police said no cause had yet been determined.

Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said a "terrorist attack" which could have been "truly catastrophic" had failed.

Tweeting on the blasts, he described them as "most worrying".

A local news agency, TT, said it had received an e-mail shortly before the blasts, which said it was now time for Swedish people to die "like our brothers and sisters".

Mats Johansson said the message was addressed to Sweden and the Swedish people.

It included references to caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed drawn by Swedish artist Lars Vilks as well as Sweden's military presence in Afghanistan, Mr Johansson said.

Sweden has 500 soldiers deployed in the country as part of the international peacekeeping force.

Police probe

Both blasts hit central Stockholm as the streets were busy with people out Christmas shopping.

A man's body was discovered after the second blast.

Unconfirmed reports in Sweden's Aftonbladet newspaper said the man was carrying pipe bombs, as well as a backpack full of nails.

But police spokesman Ulf Johansson told the BBC police would not rush to judgement.

"We need more investigation and of course we need more witnesses to give us the information of what actually has happened," he said.

He said the car had contained gas canisters. "The car exploded with a series of minor explosions and there was also some kind of explosion close up to where we found the dead man," he said.

He said there had been no warning of any attacks and confirmed that two people were lightly injured.

Another police spokesperson said it was unclear if the two blasts were linked.

The identities of the victims have not been released.

A former employee of the Associated Press news agency, Gabriel Gabiro, was close to the second blast.

"I saw some people crying, perhaps from the shock," he told the agency.

"There was a man lying on the ground with blood coming out in the area of his belly, and with his personal belongings scattered around him."

[bigross86]

I will reserve judgment until more information comes out, except for one thing:

Why the hell was the Foreign Minister Twitting about this?! What the hell is wrong with a regular press conference?

[crooks]

The Swedish police have confirmed that it was a terrorist attack - VOA | Swedish Police Probe Stockholm Blasts as Terrorism | News | English. If it is true that the man who died was a suicide bomber (unconfirmed reports say he had nail bombs on his person), it's a most welcome miracle he epic failed and didn't take anyone with him. Praise be to Allah, I suppose .

[tantalus]

info is very slow to emerge

it's a most welcome miracle he epic failed and didn't take anyone with him. Praise be to Allah, I suppose

agreed and I expect so also would most muslims

[astralis]

from the opening paragraph of OBL's 29 Oct 04 speech:

To the American people, my talk to you is about the best way to avoid another Manhattan, about the war, its reasons and its consequences .. I tell you: Security is an important element of human life, and free people do not give up their security. Unlike what Bush says that we hate freedom, let him tell us why didn't we attack Sweden, for example.

[S2]

astralis Reply

"...Unlike what Bush says that we hate freedom, let him tell us why didn't we attack Sweden, for example."

Very nice catch.

[Double Edge]

Something strange in this story and that is suicide bombers being used in a country that has not really had that much exposure to this sort of terrorism.

In India the numbers tend to be higher, in the tens, they use terms like low-intensity blasts etc but to my knowledge we've not had suicide bombers in the typical sense like you'd have in the gulf or Israel.

One killed and two injured appears, fortunately to be a screwup.

[gunnut]

Terrorist attack, you say? I wonder what kind of terrorists they were? Were they christians? The IRA? Anti-abortion activists? Anti-tax union? Taiwan independence movement? Tibetan against Chinese rule? Jews for Jesus?

Funny the media never mentioned the terrorist affiliation.

[Mihais]

from the opening paragraph of OBL's 29 Oct 04 speech:

My thoughts exactly. However we're in 2010.OBL and AQ aren't effective for a few years.They've turn into franchises and individuals like this one operate on their own or in small independent groups.We're in a new era.

[S2]

Mihais Reply

"...we're in 2010.OBL and AQ aren't effective for a few years.They've turn into franchises and individuals like this one operate on their own or in small independent groups.We're in a new era."

Just like Mickey Mouse, OBL t-shirts are sold globally. This thing's gone viral. As such, it's rendered Afghanistan largely irrelevant as a central loci of global terror.

Just east of Afghanistan? Different story but there's little we can seemingly really do about it but for one notable lethal exception.

"In India the numbers tend to be higher, in the tens, they use terms like low-intensity blasts etc but to my knowledge we've not had suicide bombers in the typical sense like you'd have in the gulf or Israel.

One killed and two injured appears, fortunately to be a screwup."

We've seen a number of these recent operational or technical foulups, to include right here in Portland, Oregon. The functional expertise hasn't spread as thoroughly as the philosophical underpinnings. It takes practice getting these things right. There is no equivalent to Qari Hussain Ahmed Mehsud who ran Sucide Bombers Polytechnic Institute in FATAville before his recently purported demise at the hands of bluesman's buddies.

[Mihais]

Sir, with respect to our Indian friends,I'd treat them differently.Not in the sense they're not as important as the rest,but they do have different issues than the ones Western nations face right now.There may be a time when we'll be on the same boat,but right now we're in two boats facing the same storm.

As my dad uses to say,mathematics and pork are hard to digest at times.But our ''friends'' in time will learn(the math part,at least).Not even that is a big issue.The real big issue is how Western societies will change their policies.In that sense I'm curious how Sweden(and more importantly the Swedes)will cope with this incident.Fact is that Sweden has been one of the most liberal societies.They've gone to hell and back to accomodate their migrant (mainly Muslim)communities.The results have been less than pleasing and this chap is only the tip of the iceberg.

[Cactus]

In India ... but to my knowledge we've not had suicide bombers in the typical sense like you'd have in the gulf or Israel.

India has had no less than a former Prime Minister (Rajiv Gandhi) assassinated in suicide bombing.

[Double Edge]

India has had no less than a former Prime Minister (Rajiv Gandhi) assassinated in suicide bombing.

Yeah, one.

But how many islamist ones ?

[tantalus]

.Mihais

In that sense I'm curious how Sweden(and more importantly the Swedes)will cope with this incident.Fact is that Sweden has been one of the most liberal societies.They've gone to hell and back to accomodate their migrant (mainly Muslim)communities.The results have been less than pleasing and this chap is only the tip of the iceberg.

The attack is a danger to tolerance and human life and tolerance is required on both sides that select individuals do not represent the entire group, unless that group acknowledge the individual. It is also a threat to the perception of reality and can result in the creation of stereotypes.

Swedish tolerance threatened by first suicide bombing

The attacks were immediately and widely denounced by Sweden's Muslim community, with condemnations from many Muslim groups and several small peace protests.
But the clearest message came perhaps on Tuesday, when Hassan Mussa, one of Sweden's most influential clerics, issued a fatwa -- an Islamic ruling -- clearly condemning the attack.
“It is forbidden to accept what has happened or try to justify it,” said Moussa.
“Those who accept it or justify it are as guilty as the perpetrator himself,” he added, according to Swedish radio's translation.
But the fact that a Swedish-raised man blew himself in the name of Islam -- as he understood it -- has challenged Sweden's tradition of tolerance, said respected Islamologist Jan Hjaerpe.
“This (attack) in Stockholm is used to point to all the Muslims in Sweden and say they are dangerous,” Hjaerpe told AFP.
A report released Wednesday by Sweden's intelligence agency Saepo suggested this kind of extremism was very are: it estimated only about 200 extremists with the potential for violence among the Muslim population.
On that evidence, Hjaerpe insisted, they “do not represent the huge majority of the Muslims in Sweden.”Even the audio message attributed to the bomber, sent out shortly before Saturday's attack, appeared to acknowledge this lack of radicalism, said Hjaerpe.
“You could hear he was quite angry that the Muslims in Sweden were not interested in going into a jihad,” he pointed out.

yet minorities do not represent the whole, our their interpretation represent an entire world religion for that matter

They've gone to hell and back to accomodate their migrant (mainly Muslim)communities. The results have been less than pleasing and this chap is only the tip of the iceberg.

unforunately an event like this is capable of breaking trust, and isolating whole groups, increasing the chances of people successfully recruiting more extremists, but I do disagree with you that this event indicates a failure in Swedish liberal policies, in a globalised world, extremists are everywhere and minorities are not excluded to individual countries. It is unavoidable.