“Allahu akbar” shouts during attack: Investigators: Rotterdam knife attack was Islamist terror

“Allahu akbar” calls at Tat
Investigators: Rotterdam knife attack was Islamist terror

20.09.2024, 20:49

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On Thursday, a man randomly stabbed passers-by in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam – one person died and another was injured. After the attack, witnesses reported shouts of “Allahu akbar”. The public prosecutor's office has now confirmed that it is investigating an Islamist attack.

According to the public prosecutor's office, the fatal knife attack in the center of Rotterdam was an Islamist attack. Investigators assumed that the 22-year-old suspect from Amersfoort had a “terrorist motive,” the Dutch Attorney General's Office said. The man killed a 32-year-old man from Rotterdam and seriously injured a 33-year-old Swiss man in the Dutch port city on Thursday.

According to the public prosecutor's office, the investigations so far indicate that “the suspect could be motivated by ideological motives.” The alleged perpetrator “shouted 'Allahu akbar' (Arabic: God is great) several times while committing the crimes.” The investigators thus confirmed statements made by witnesses to the attack. He is currently being charged with “murder and attempted murder with a terrorist motive.” It was further stated that other motives for the crime “cannot be explicitly ruled out” at this time.

Eyewitnesses said the man attacked passers-by with “two large knives” near the popular nightlife district on Rotterdam's Erasmus Bridge at around 8 p.m. The news agency ANP reported that the attacks were indiscriminate, citing observers of the incident. Many people also use the area for recreational sports.

33-year-old released from hospital

The suspected perpetrator was arrested after the attack. According to police, he was injured and taken to hospital. On Friday, he was brought before a judge and then remanded in custody. He had already been convicted of violent crimes in the past. The 33-year-old Swiss man who was injured in the attack was able to leave the hospital, according to investigators.

The Netherlands has been rocked by several attacks in recent years and several planned assassinations have narrowly escaped. In 2019, a Turkish-born man shot at passengers on a tram in Utrecht, killing four people. In the same year, police arrested two suspected jihadists who were allegedly planning an attack using suicide bombers and car bombs.

In the most high-profile Islamist attack in the country to date, a man with links to a jihadist network murdered director Theo van Gogh, known for his anti-Islam views, in Amsterdam in 2004.