Two dead and two wounded in a knife attack at the Aga Khan religious center in Lisbon

The security bubble that has surrounded Portuguese cities until now has been breached this morning with the attack carried out shortly before 11:00 in the center of the Ismaili community in Lisbon, which caused the death of two women and serious injuries to two others. people.

The assailant, in his 40s and the father of three children, carried out the attack with a knife and was wounded in the leg by police shots.

The weekly

reports that the man could suffer from some kind of mental disorder.

According to the SIC television network, the attacker had been residing in Portugal for a year and had lost his wife in a refugee center.

“Around 10:58 a.m., the first police officers arrived at the premises, and they found a man armed with a large knife.

The attacker was given orders to cease his aggression, which he disobeyed, advancing towards the agents with the knife in hand," the Public Security Police (PSP), which intervened, said in a statement.

The assailant was transferred to the São José hospital to undergo surgery after being shot and remains in the center in the custody of the agents.

The leader of the Ismaili community, Nazim Ahmad, told SIC television that the attacker is an Afghan national and was holding a large knife.

He also confirmed that the victims are women of Portuguese nationality, between the ages of 20 and 40.

"It is premature to make any interpretation about the motivations of this criminal act," said Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa.

In a statement, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and noted that "the first indications point to an isolated act."

The president of the Social Democratic Party, Luís Montenegro, wrote a tweet of rejection: "This morning's attack is a stinking crime that justice must punish in an exemplary way."

For her part, the leader of the Bloco de Esquerda, Catarina Martins, expressed her regret and highlighted the assistance work provided by the Ismaili community in support of refugees.

André Ventura, leader of the far-right party, Chega, took advantage of the event to shore up his discourse against immigration and the traditional reception policy in Portugal.

“The open door policy without any control gave into this.

The blood of these victims is the responsibility of the Afghan criminal, but it is in the hands of the Government of António Costa, ”he wrote on his Twitter.

Following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, Portugal hosted refugees fleeing repression by Muslim militias.

Since the end of August of that year, almost a thousand people have arrived, although a quarter of the Afghan refugees were only passing through the country.

The Ismaili Center of Lisbon is the world headquarters of the Ismaili community, a minority current within the Shiite branch of Islam, whose members have been attacked by extremist groups in countries like Pakistan.

The leader of this minority is Prince Aga Khan, who acquired the Lisbon building from the Nova School of Business and Economics for 12 million euros in 2016. Some 8,000 faithful of this Muslim community reside in Portugal.

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