Lugano attack: Police say at least two wounded in ‘terror incident’ at shopping centre

A woman attacked two others with a knife in the city of Lugano, Switzerland

(EPA-EFE)

A female assailant stabbed a woman in the neck and injured another at a department store in southern Switzerland on Tuesday in what police have described as an "alleged terrorist attack".

A 28-year-old female suspect, who is also a Swiss national is in custody after she was restrained by members of the public at the scene in the city of Lugano.

The Swiss authorities referred to the assailant as a “jihadist” who had been known to the police, and who had tried to travel to Syria after meeting a militant online. 

"Police investigations in 2017 revealed that the woman had formed a relationship via social media with a jihadist fighter from Syria," the Federal Office of Police (fedpol) tweeted.

The victims of the incident on Tuesday afternoon were left with injuries that were not thought to be life-threatening.

“A department store in Lugano was the scene of a suspected terrorist-motivated attack on several people,” the federal Office of the Attorney General said in a statement on Tuesday.

“In this context, one person with Swiss citizenship was arrested and is now in custody... The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has opened criminal proceedings against this person,” it added.

 

The Federal Office of Police said the suspect tried travelling to Syria in 2017 to meet the man she had met online, but was stopped by the Turkish authorities at the border between Turkey and Syria. She was then sent back to Switzerland.  

“The woman was suffering from mental health problems at this time. After returning to Switzerland, she was admitted to a psychiatric clinic,” the authorities said, adding that since 2017 she has not come to the federal police’s attention in any investigation related to terrorist activities.  

Catherine Maret, a spokeswoman for the federal police, confirmed earler that the suspect was “known to police” and had "appeared in police investigations with regard to terrorism". 

She declined to comment on local media reports that the attacker shouted "Allahu Akbar" – which loosely translates to "God is great" – during the incident.

Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz condemned the attack on twitter.

“I fully condemn today’s Islamist terrorist attack in Lugano," he said. “My thoughts are with the victims wishing them a full & swift recovery. We stand with Switzerland in these difficult hours. We’ll give a joint response to Islamist terrorism in Europe and defend our values.”

Switzerland itself has not seen the same scale of terrorist incidents that have recently taken place in neighbouring countries, such as the attacks in Paris, Nice and Vienna.

However, two men were arrested in the town of Winterthur this month over links to the deadly shooting in Vienna.