Citing Portuguese authorities, media reports say two women were killed and one person wounded in a knife attack believed to have been carried out by an Afghan refugee at the Ismaili Centre in Lisbon on Tuesday.
The Ismaili says that at around 11.30 am yesterday, a man armed with a knife entered the premises of the Ismaili Centre in Lisbon and attacked three people, killing two and injuring the third.
The Ismaili community is shocked and saddened by this incident and is providing support to the families of the victims.
Al Jazeera says that according to a police statement, officers were called to the Center just before 11am (10:00 GMT) where they encountered a man “armed with a large knife”.
The suspect has been taken into custody after he was shot by police because he did not obey warnings to put down his weapon.
Two female employees, aged 49 and 24, of the Ismaili Centre, were killed in the attack.
The BBC, citing Portuguese media, says one was the attacker's English teacher at the Center and the other a fellow classmate.
Local media reported that the attacker was a widowed Afghan refugee and a father to three children.
Al Jazeera reports that Prime Minister Antonio Costa expressed his condolences and solidarity to the families of the victims and also to the Ismaili community in Portugal on Twitter.
It is too early to speculate about the motives for this crime, said Costa. “We have to wait for the results of the investigation,” he said.
Later in the day, Interior Minister Jose Luis Carneiro, reportedly said that “everything leads to believe” that the attack was “an isolated act”.
Portugal has been considered one of the safest countries in the world and does not tend to experience Islamophobic attacks or generally a high level of crime.
