Double stabbing at Amsterdam station in possible terror attack

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Dutch police were investigating Saturday a suspected terror attack at Amsterdam's Central Station, in which two people were stabbed before the knifeman was shot by police.

The assailant was identified as a 19-year-old Afghan man with a German residency permit.

"We are seriously taking into account that there was a terrorist motive," Amsterdam police spokesman Frans Zuiderhoek told AFP.

Earlier witnesses described scenes of panic as gunshots rang out and thousands of commuters and tourists were evacuated from the rail terminus shortly after midday.

"A man in the west side tunnel of Amsterdam Central Station stabbed two other people and directly after that he was shot by the police," another police spokesman Rob van der Veen said, adding terrorism was not being ruled out by investigators.

"The two people are very badly injured, and they were brought to the hospital," he said. 

"We are looking at all scenarios, also the worst scenario, which is terrorism."

One witness said he saw a young man "stumble" into his flower shop at the station with a bleeding wound to his hand.

"Shortly afterwards I heard some shots and I know something has gone badly wrong," Richard Snelders told the ANP news agency. A while later he saw another man lying on the ground nearby, he said. 

"The first thing that comes up in your mind is that it's a terror attack. After all, you are at Amsterdam Central Station. There was a lot of panic," Snelders said.

- 'Stay down' –

Police quickly arrived at the scene with video images showing police ordering the suspect in English to "stay down" after he had been shot.

Images posted on social media showed security guards ushering passengers towards exits and paramedics arriving at the scene with stretchers.

Police spokesman Zuiderhoek said the knifeman's condition was not life-threatening, but that he had been shot in the lower body.

"At this moment he is under police custody in hospital. He is being questioned about his motive," Zuiderhoek added.

Dutch police were also in close contact with their German counterparts in regards to the suspect's background, he added.

Two platforms at the station -- located in the Dutch capital's historic canal-ringed city center -- had been evacuated and closed off to passengers, police said, and were reopened for rail traffic two hours later. 

A special police department opened a routine probe into why police shot the man.

The Netherlands has so far been spared from the slew of terror attacks which have rocked its closest European neighbors in the past few years.

But amid a number of scares and reports that people linked to some of those attacks may have crossed briefly into the country, top Dutch security and intelligence officials have stressed that the threat level is substantial.

Police declined to speculate on the reasons for Friday's incident, but the Afghan Taliban in a statement Thursday called for attacks on Dutch troops following plans by Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders to stage a Prophet Mohammed cartoon competition in the Dutch parliament.

Wilders, who received several death threats has since cancelled the competition which has angered Muslims and sparked protests, saying he wanted to "avoid the risk of making people victims of Islamist violence".

Around 250,000 people travel through Central Station every day, according to statistics provided by the Amsterdam.info travel guide.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

2 dead, 8 wounded in knife attack in Finland

TURKU, Finland - A man with a knife killed two people and wounded eight others in a stabbing rampage in a market square in the Finnish city of Turku on Friday, police said.

Police shot the suspected attacker in the leg and arrested him. They said they had yet to establish the identity of the man who was of foreign origin, or his motive.

A witness told Reuters she had seen a man stabbing a woman and other people sobbing at what they had seen after running away in terror.

Police warned people to stay away from the city and reinforced security nationwide, with increased patrols and more surveillance, in case more people were involved. People were allowed to return to the city center a few hours later.

"At this stage, there is only one suspect and we are investigating whether there are more people involved ... but it looks likely (he was alone)," Markus Laine from the National Bureau of Investigation said.

"For now we do not investigate this (as a terrorist attack) but the possibility has not been ruled out," he told a news conference.

Police said they would hold the next news conference in Turku on Saturday at 1100 GMT.

People laid candles and flowers at the scene of the attack in the evening.

Laura Laine, who saw the stabbing from a nearby outdoor cafe, also returned to the square.

"First thing we heard was a young woman, screaming like crazy. I thought it's just kids having fun ... but then people started to move around and I saw a man with a knife in his hand, stabbing a woman," she told Reuters.

"Then a person ran towards us shouting 'he has a knife', and everybody from the terrace ran inside."

"Next, a woman came in to the cafe. She was crying hysterically, down on her knees, saying someone's neck has been slashed open."

The eight wounded were taken to hospital, police said.

"The act is utterly deplorable and an exceptionally serious violent offence in the Finnish context – it is deeply shocking for us all," Prime Minister Juha Sipila said in a statement after holding a conference call with his government.

Finland is usually peaceful but the Security Intelligence Service raised the terrorism threat level in June to elevated from low, saying it had become aware of terrorism-related plans in Finland.

The government has grown more concerned about attacks, partly since an Uzbek man killed four people in neighbouring Sweden in April by driving a hijacked truck into crowd in central Stockholm.

On Thursday, a suspected Islamist militant drove a van into crowds in Barcelona, Spain, killing 13 people and wounding scores of others.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said: "It is with great concern that I have learnt of the violent attacks in Turku, Finland. While details are still emerging, we strongly condemn this unprovoked attack which comes only 24 hours after the horror that unfolded in Spain."

source: news.abs-cbn.com