Explosions in Stockholm kill one, injure two

Two explosions rocked a retail area of Stockholm, killing one and injuring two.  While authorities have refused to specify the nature of the attacks, the blasts appear intentional, and a warning sent ten minutes before the blast in Swedish and Arabic strongly indicates the involvement of Islamic terrorists:

TT said the warning, which was also sent to Sweden’s Security Police, was received 10 minutes before the blasts. The agency said the mail had sound files in both Swedish and Arabic attached.

The voice on the sound file addressed Sweden and the Swedish people and talked about Sweden’s silence over the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed by artist Lars Vilks and Sweden’s presence in Afghanistan, TT reported.

“Our actions will talk for themselves. As long as you do not end your war against Islam and humiliation of the prophet and your stupid support for the pig Vilks,” TT quoted the man on the sound file as saying.

The man also urged all Muslims in Sweden to “stop sucking up to and degrading,”reported The Local, Sweden’s English news publication. He concluded the message with yet another call to “all the mujahedeen” in Sweden and Europe, adding “Now it’s time to act, don’t wait any longer. Fear no one, don’t fear prison, don’t fear death.”

The cartoons again?  That seems pretty thin, given the amount of time that has passed. Sweden has around 500 troops in Afghanistan, none of which are combat units.  They hardly seem like a sufficient target for terrorists’ ire, which suggests that perhaps the terrorists are looking mainly for targets of opportunity, and mainly an excuse for mayhem.

The BBC reported that the dead man had pipe bombs on his body, which may mean that the terrorist’s incompetence took care of the problem before any further damage could be done.  Assuming this turns out to be true, it could have been the start of an attempt to create a “12/11″ in Sweden.  We’ll keep an eye out for any more developments.

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