Attack in Stockholm

Who was behind the attack?

On April 10^th 2017, People gathered from around Sweden to honor those who lost their lives in an attack in Stockholm.

The attack took place on 7th of April, when a man driving a stolen truck drove through a bustling commercial street in the center of the Swedish capital.

 Four people tragically lost their lives and many were injured. Amongst the departed were a British national and an 11-year old Swedish girl who was walking home from school.

 How did the attack take place?

The attack occurred around 14:53 local time in Sweden. After stealing a delivery truck that was meant for a Swedish brewer, the assailant drove off with the vehicle. Immediately afterwards, the truck was driven down Drottninggatan, a pedestrianized road in the heart of Stockholm’s shopping district. The driver was accused of focusing on trying to mow down children and was driving in an extremely erratic manner. The driver finally rammed the truck in to the Ahlen City department store. Soon the vehicle was immersed in the flames before policemen and fireman were on the scene to put out the fire. The driver escaped the scene and fled.  

Who was the attacker?

The man arrested in the connection to the attack was an asylum seeker whose application was rejected by the Swedish Migration Agency in December 2016. Rakhmat Akilov was instructed to leave Sweden within four weeks of his applications rejection. Akilov who was 39 and from Uzbekistan, avoided police and hid underground. He was a ‘wanted man’ for he had made his sympathy for known terrorist organizations public. His Facebook profile was littered with videos of his support for the people of Libya and Iraq, he was also part of many groups which denounce the double standard on what is considered terror etc. He was born in Samarkand, Uzbekistan and worked for a construction company prior to the attack.

Assessment

After the attack, Sweden’s prime minister Stefan Lofven apologized to the Swedish people and said that he would do everything in his power to protect them in the future. The attack comes right after an attack in Belgium which featured the same modus operandi. One that seems to be popping up all across Europe. Sweden will clamp down on migrants and immigrants in the future and will drop their acceptance rate. This comes after years of mass migration policies and an progressive stance on immigration. Nationalist parties have already attempted to use the tragedy to support their own policies and that might a trend for the future across Scadinavia.