2 dead, several injured in knife attack at Muslim center in Portugal’s capital
A man wielding a large knife killed two woman and injured several other people at an Ismaili Muslim center in Lisbon, and Portuguese authorities said they were investigating Tuesday’s stabbing attack as a possible terrorist act.
The women were staff members at the center, Ismaili community leader Narzim Ahmad told Portuguese TV channel S.I.C.
Officers dispatched to the center late Tuesday morning encountered a man armed with a knife, according to a police statement. The officers ordered him to surrender, and he was shot when he advanced toward them, the statement said.
A suspect was in police custody at a Lisbon hospital. Investigators were looking into terrorism as a possible motive.
Several other people were wounded, according to the statement, but it provided no further details.
Prime Minister António Costa said police shot the suspect, and told reporters that the attack was “a criminal act.”
Portugal’s center-left socialist government is set to approve a package of measures to address the country’s housing crisis.
“Everything points to this being an isolated incident,” Costa said, without giving more details.
There was no immediate word on the identity of those killed.
Armed police from a special operations unit could be seen forming a perimeter outside the building.
The Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, generally known as the Ismailis, belong to the Shia branch of Islam. The Ismaili Muslims are a culturally diverse community living in more than 25 countries around the world.
Portugal hasn’t recorded any significant terrorist attacks in recent decades, and religious violence is virtually unheard of.
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