An Afghan asylum seeker has been arrested for the fatal stabbing of two women in a Shia Muslim centre in Portugal in what investigators say may be a terrorist attack.
The fatal stabbing of two women took place at an Ismaili Muslim centre in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon on Tuesday and saw several people attacked, allegedly by an Afghan asylum seeker who was later taken to a local hospital by police after being shot for refusing to end the attack when ordered.
Mariana Jadaugy, 24, and Farana Sadrudin, 49, were named as the two victims and are said to have worked at the centre to help asylum seekers and refugees, the Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias reports.
A Portuguese police officer stands guard at the Ismaili Islamic centre in Lisbon, after two people died following a knife attack that wounded several others, on March 28, 2023. (Photo: PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP via Getty Images)
The suspect in the case has been identified as an Afghan asylum seeker who was known as a regular visitor to the Ismaili centre. The man is said to have three young children and that his wife died at a Greek migrant camp, the BBC reports. Some outlets have named the suspect as 39-year-old Abdul Bashir.
Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa commented on the attack saying, “I wanted to express to the Ismaili community, to the families of the victims, my solidarity and my sorrow.”
“It is premature to make any interpretation about the motivations of this criminal act,” the Prime Minister added.
So far, the exact motive for the attack remains unclear but the Portuguese counterterrorism unit of the Judiciary Police has been handed the case, indicating that authorities may believe the attack was a terrorist event.
Minister of Administration, José Luís Carneiro, stated that the suspect led a quiet life with the support of the Ismaili community and was not previously known to security services and showed no signs of prior radicalisation.
Attacks in Europe on minority Muslim sects, such as the Ahmadiyya, have been seen in Europe in recent years, with violence most often coming from other Muslims, such as Sunnis who view them as heretics.
In 2016, Ahmadiyya shopkeeper Asad Shah was murdered in Glasgow, Scotland by Sunni Muslim named Tanveer Ahmed, who travelled from Brandford, England to kill Shah for his perceived heretical beliefs.
In Sweden, Shia Muslims have also expressed fears of threats from returning Sunni extremists who joined the Islamic State terrorist group, with some stating they had to hire security guards to protect their centre from Sunni extremists.
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.
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