Attack Details
The assailant, Rakhmat Akilov, a 39-year-old rejected asylum seeker from Uzbekistan, hijacked a delivery truck from the Spendrups brewery. He drove approximately 500 meters down Drottninggatan, deliberately targeting pedestrians, and ultimately crashed into the Åhléns City department store. A homemade bomb was found in the truck but was not detonated.
Casualties
The attack claimed the lives of five individuals, including an 11-year-old Swedish girl, a 31-year-old Belgian woman, a 41-year-old British man, and two Swedish nationals aged 69. Additionally, 14 people sustained serious injuries.
Perpetrator and Legal Proceedings
Akilov was apprehended several hours after the attack. He had expressed sympathy for extremist organizations, including ISIS, and had been denied asylum in Sweden prior to the incident. In June 2018, Akilov was convicted of terrorist crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment, followed by deportation to Uzbekistan upon release.
Aftermath and Response
In response to the attack, the Swedish government and opposition parties reached an agreement to implement new anti-terror measures. These measures aimed to enhance preventive work against terrorism, improve intelligence capabilities, and strengthen the capacity to handle terror threats.
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