Suspected suicide bomber ****** and two injured in Stockholm blasts
A suspected suicide car bomber died and two people were injured in 'terrorist' explosions which rocked the centre of Stockholm yesterday.
The twin blasts in a street packed with Christmas shoppers came minutes after a Swedish news agency received a warning denouncing the country's military presence in Afghanistan and threatening deadly reprisals.
In the first ******, a parked car packed with gas canisters exploded around 4.50pm. Two people were taken to hospital with ***** injuries.
Premium Image Content
Upgrade to Premium to view all images in this thread
Ablaze: A firefighter attempts to put out the fire following a car bomb explosion in Stockholm
Premium Image Content
Upgrade to Premium to view all images in this thread
Firemen pour in foam to douse the flames of the burning car in Stockholm
The second blast was about 200 metres (650 feet) away. A man thought to be the bomber was found injured on the ground and later pronounced dead.
A bag filled with nails had been found near the body, according to Swedish news agency SVT. Witnesses said he had a large wound to his stomach as if something had exploded there.
It was believed the bomber had the explosives in a backpack.
Gabriel Gabiro, who heard the second explosion from inside a watch store across the street, said: 'There was a man lying on the ground with ***** coming out in the area of his belly, and with his personal belongings scattered around him.
Premium Image Content
Upgrade to Premium to view all images in this thread
The suspected suicide car bomber lies under a blanket while a police forensic officer removes debris from the around the body
Premium Image Content
Upgrade to Premium to view all images in this thread
Sealed off: The scene where two separate bomb explosions hit the centre of Stockholm
'It shook the store that I was in. Then there was smoke and *** powder coming in. I saw some people ******.'
Security police could not immediately confirm a terrorist link to the explosions but Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt had no doubt.
He wrote on his Twitter account: 'Most worrying attempt at terrorist ******. Failed - but could have been truly catastrophic.'
The local news agency TT received an e-mail in Arabic and Swedish saying 'the time has come to take action.'
The e-mail referred to Sweden's silence surrounding cartoonist Lars Vilk's drawing of Muhammad as a dog and its soldiers in Afghanistan.
It warned: ' Our acts will speak for themselves. Now your ********, ********* and sisters shall die like our brothers and sisters and ******** are dying.'
Punitive actions would continue 'as long as you do not stop your war against Islam, your *********** of the Prophet and your stupid support for the pig Vilks.'
Vilks has been the object of death threats and at least one plot to **** him.
The message concluded by urging 'mujahideen,' or Islamic fighters, to rise up in Sweden and in Europe, the news agency said.
TT said a similar warning had been sent to the Swedish Security Service SAPO.
Sweden has 500 soldiers serving with NATO's International Security Assistance ***** (ISAF) in Afghanistan, but their mandate only runs to January 1, 2011, and would need to be renewed by parliament for them to stay on.
On October 1, Sweden's intelligence agency Saepo said it had raised the alert level for attacks from low to elevated, putting it at three on an alert scale of five.
Read more:
Premium Link
Upgrade
