At least dPortuguese women have died this Tuesday morning in an attack on a ismaili center of Lisbon perpetrated by an Afghan man armed with a knife who was subdued by police fire and subsequently arrestedaccording to official sources.
The police confirmed that, in addition, there “several injuries”, at least one of them seriousalthough he did not specify the total number of wounded. The two fatalities are two women, one about 20 years old and the other about 40 years oldwho worked in the center when the attack took place, according to the public network RTP.
The Portuguese police reported that they received the first notice of the attack minutes before 11:00 local time and the agents found a man armed with a large knife.
I express my solidarity and condolences to the Ismaili community and the families of the victims of the attack of this manhã at the Ismaili Center of Lisbon.
Prompt intervention registration @PSP_Portugal that I immediately proceeded to arrest the suspect.— Antonio Costa (@antoniocostapm) March 28, 2023
“They gave orders to the attacker to stop the attack, he disobeyed and advanced with the knife in hand in the direction of the police” who “resorted to the firearm, reaching and neutralizing the attacker,” said an official statement.
The Ismaili center is located in the Lisbon Lusiadas Avenueclose to two hospitals and also close to a large shopping center, and opened its doors in 1996. The Ismailis are a minority current within Shiite Islam whose members have been attacked by extremist groups in countries like Pakistan.
The Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, specified that “everything indicates that it was a isolated act, but we are not going to anticipate”. And ethe president of the country, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousahas transferred his condolences to the Ismaili community in Lisbon and has pointed out that “investigations are underway to clarify what happened”.
