GLOBAL JIHAD

'It looked like the man was carrying something that exploded on his stomach' --The Local, Sweden
One dead after suicide bombing in Stockholm

Published: 11 Dec 10 21:37 CET
Updated: 12 Dec 10 01:24 CET



Two nearly simultaneous explosions rocked central Stockholm on Saturday evening, killing one person and injuring two others in what is believed to be a suicide attack.

* Stockholm attack follows terror warnings (12 Dec 10) http://www.thelocal.se/30780/20101212/
* Witnesses tell of Stockholm bomb terror (11 Dec 10) http://www.thelocal.se/30778/20101211/
* Two Swedes jailed for plotting Somalia attacks (8 Dec 10) http://www.thelocal.se/30704/20101208/
* Somali militia issues Lars Vilks death threat (24 Nov 10) http://www.thelocal.se/30392/20101124/

The fatal blast occurred just minutes after a car exploded on another nearby street sending two people to hospital.

Roughly ten minutes before the explosions, Swedish news agency TT received an email telling Muslims in Sweden and Europe it was "time to take action".

Sveriges Television (SVT) reported that both explosions, which occurred about 200 metres from one another, were part of a suicide attack in the Swedish capital.

Writing from his Twitter account shortly after midnight on Saturday night, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt referred to the incident as a "terrorist attack".

"Most worrying attempt at terrorist attack in crowded part of central Stockholm," wrote Bildt.

"Failed -- but could have been truly catastrophic..." he added.

Bildt's comments, sent from his Twitter account, effectively confirmed earlier reports in the Swedish media that the two almost simultaneous explosions had been an attack.

The first blast in the car left two passers-by in need of hospital treatment for minor injuries, said emergency services spokesperson Bengt Norberg.

A second alert was received two minutes later and one person was found dead at the scene of the second blast which took place in the street, he added.

"I cannot confirm that the death is linked to the explosion of the car but I cannot deny it either," police spokeswoman Petra Sjolandero told AFP.

She added that the car caught fire "following a series of explosions which could have been from gas canisters."

Police later told the TT news agency that the car explosion was caused by cannisters containing liquefied petroleum gas.

According to the TT news agency, police are operating under the assumption that the man who died wasn’t injured in a car explosion but instead blew himself up.

The first emergency calls came in at 4.52pm on Saturday, with police fielding dozens of calls about a car exploding at the intersection of Drottninggatan and Olof Palmes gata in central Stockholm.

“We’ve received at least 50 calls to 112,â€