by Jules Gomes, Focus on Western Islamism
Police Had Been Tracking ISIS Propagandist Who Shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’
Swiss police have arrested a 31-year-old Islamist who stabbed three people with a knife while shouting “Allahu Akbar” at the Winterthur train station in the canton of Zurich at 08:30 local time on May 28, the second day of Eid al-Adha, an important Islamic holy day.
The jihadi has been identified as Nesip Dedeler, a naturalized Turk and Islamic State supporter, who had been charged with “spreading ISIS propaganda” in 2015, Zurich Police Commander Marius Weyermann confirmed.
Dedeler’s three victims, Swiss citizens aged 28, 43, and 52, have been hospitalized, with one of them in a serious condition. The assailant rushed toward a group of schoolchildren as a schoolteacher stood in front of them to protect them, local media reported.
“I saw him rush out of the ramp and try to stab a man,” taxi driver Turhan Muslu told Blick. “The passerby fought back with all his might.” The police responded within minutes and subdued the assailant. “It all happened incredibly fast. If those security forces hadn’t come out of the station so quickly, I don’t know what would have happened.”