"98 percent"

Swedish authorities are investigating the first terrorist attack in the country's history

On December 11, two explosions occurred in Stockholm with an interval of 15 minutes. As a result, one person was killed and two were injured. Despite the fact that the Swedish authorities have so far refused to officially call the incident a double terrorist attack, few doubt that this was a suicide attack - the first in the country's history.

The first explosion occurred around 5 pm near the crowded pedestrian street Drottninggatan ("Queen's Street"), where shops and cafes are concentrated. An explosive device went off in a car parked near the street. Fifteen minutes later, a second explosion occurred three hundred meters from the site of the first explosion.

The second explosion injured two people and killed one. As the Swedish police subsequently stated, most likely, the only victim was the suicide bomber himself. An explosive device was found on the body of the deceased, and a bag of nails and explosives was found next to him. Moreover, the investigation suspects that the same person detonated an explosive device in the car 15 minutes before his death.

At first, the police had few leads. Until recently, the authorities refused to officially recognize the incident as a terrorist attack, and representatives of the SAPO security service stated that they could not say with complete certainty that there was a connection between the two explosions.

Islamist websites rushed to correct the situation. Despite the fact that no organization has yet claimed responsibility for the explosions in Stockholm, on Sunday the Shumukh al-Islam website published the name and photograph of the alleged suicide bomber. The caption under the photo read: Timur Abdul Wahab (according to another version - Taymour Abdel Wahab), “shahid mujahideen” and “brother from Sweden.”

Timur Abdul Wahab. Photo provided by (c)AFP

Further details about the alleged suicide bomber were revealed, oddly enough, by British newspapers. It turned out that in 1992, 11-year-old Wahab emigrated from Baghdad to Sweden, and in 2001 he came to study in the UK.

Newspaper reporters gleaned the information from Timur Abdul Wahab’s page on the Islamic dating site Muslima . The page, in particular, reported that Wahab studied at the University of Bedfordshire in Luton, specializing in sports medicine. Moreover, apparently, in Luton, 50 kilometers north of London, the probable terrorist lived until very recently.

Neighbors interviewed by reporters say they last saw Wahab in the area of his Luton home less than a month ago. In addition, his wife and two daughters still live there. Everyone unanimously stated that they would never have thought that the “silent but glorious” Timur Wahab was capable of committing a terrorist act.

On the morning of December 13, British police searched Wahab's house. According to police, nothing suspicious was found and no arrests were made. Scotland Yard said that investigative activities in Luton will continue in the near future, but they left their Swedish colleagues to comment on the progress of the investigation. Hours later, Sweden's Attorney General Tomas Lindstrand said he was "98 percent sure" that the body of Timur Abdul Wahab had been found at the site of the second explosion in Stockholm.

At the same time, Swedish police confirmed that shortly before the explosions they received an email containing a warning about an impending terrorist attack. The threat was recorded as an audio file in Swedish, Arabic and English (the English version can be heard on The Daily Telegraph website).

The same recordings were sent to the Swedish news agency TT by email 10 minutes before the explosions. The reports spoke of an "Islamic state" being created in Europe and of a "jihad" against Sweden. “Your children, your daughters and sisters will die, just as our sisters and children are dying,” the message said. The author especially highlighted the participation of Swedish troops in the military operation in Afghanistan, as well as the inaction of the authorities regarding the artist Lars Vilks , the author of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

On December 13, SAPO confirmed that the recordings were sent by the same person who was found dead at the site of the second explosion in central Stockholm on December 11. In other words - “98 percent” Timur Abdul Wahab.

It may be that Swedish law enforcement agencies are always so careful with their conclusions, but it is possible that some confusion in the statements of representatives of various departments - SAPO, the prosecutor's office and the police - was a reflection of the shock that gripped the entire country on December 11. If the explosions in Stockholm were indeed the work of a suicide bomber, then this is the first such terrorist attack in the history of Sweden.

The fact that the only victim of the explosions was the terrorist himself does not particularly ease the unfamiliar feeling of vulnerability for Swedes. It turns out that in their country, which prides itself on tolerance towards representatives of all religions and people from all over the world, terrorist attacks are possible on a busy main street at the height of the Christmas shopping season.

The fact that Saturday's terrorist attacks did not lead to significant casualties is considered a pure coincidence in Sweden. The prosecutor's office, at least, said that the explosions were planned very carefully, only the second one, apparently, occurred ahead of time. SAPO, meanwhile, is looking for potential accomplices of the possible terrorist. Unpleasant wording can be avoided, but the main version has not been canceled.

Konstantin Benyumov

"98 percent"

Related links

Lenta.ru: Terror: “At 98 percent”