Saturday, December 11, 2010

Stockholm Syndrome

News reports coming in of a pair of car bombs in Sweden, possibly linked to the country's military involvement in Afghanistan or editorial cartoons depicting Mohammad as a terrorist.

Two blasts rocked the center of Stockholm on Saturday in a possible attack inspired by Sweden's presence in Afghanistan, killing the bomber and wounding two other people, police and media said.
Swedish news agency TT said that 10 minutes before the first blast, when a car exploded near a busy shopping street, it received an email with threats over the Swedish presence in Afghanistan and over a years-old case of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad by a Swedish artist.

Police spokesman Kjell Lindgren said the car exploded at peak shopping hours at 5 p.m. (12 p.m. EST). About 10 to 15 minutes later another explosion took place on a street 300 meters (984 ft) away.

A man was found dead near the second explosion and two people with minor injuries were also found nearby.

Asked if the man blew himself up in some way, Lindgren said: "It is possible."

Investigations were continuing to see if the two incidents were linked, he said.

More on this as it comes in.

[UPDATE] CNN is saying that Swedish authorities believe this was a failed terrorist bombing, and that the intended destruction could have been much deadlier.

1 comment:

  1. I see the phrase "in a possible attack inspired by" in a lot of these type of reports. Does the speculation really matter at this point? Why do news organizations (and they almost all do it), feel compelled to attach motive when it's not really known.

    Some crazy dude blew shit up - Figure out the why, then report on it...

    ReplyDelete