The 2018 Amsterdam stabbing attack was an attack on 31 August 2018, in

Amsterdam Centraal station Amsterdam Centraal station ( ; Railway stations in the Netherlands, abbreviation: Asd) is the largest railway station in Amsterdam, North Holland, the Netherlands. A major international Rail transport, railway hub, it is used by 192,000 passeng ...

. A 19-year-old man from

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stabbed and injured two

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tourists. The attacker was shot and injured by the police.

Dutch Police The National Police Corps (), colloquially in English as Dutch National Police or National Police Force, is the centralised, national law enforcement agency of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and its sole police force. Constituted under the prov ...

confirmed that they believe he had a terrorist motive.Police investigate possible terror link to double stabbing at Amsterdam station
The Telegraph, 1 September 2018
New York Times, 1 September 2018

Incident

At around 12:10 local time (

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) on 31 August 2018 a man who had recently arrived by train was observed by security staff in the west side tunnel of Amsterdam Centraal Station. While they were discussing how to approach him, the man pulled out a knife and stabbed one tourist in the back, then attacked a second tourist. Police officers were 20 m away drew their weapons, and when the perpetrator ran towards another potential victim one of the officers opened fire and brought him down. The attack lasted nine seconds until the attacker was shot by police. Witnesses reported hearing two gunshots. Policemen ordered the suspect to "stay down" in

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. The victims, who were "very badly injured" according to a police spokesman, and the suspect were taken to hospital.

Impact

Train services were interrupted and the station, which was very busy on a Friday with many travellers from

Amsterdam Schiphol airport Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport (, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands, and is one of the major hubs for the SkyTeam airline alliance. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipal ...

, was temporarily closed. As a result of this attack, on 28 September 2018, the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

raised its travel advisory for the Netherlands from Level 1 to Level 2.

Suspect

The attacker was identified as 19-year-old Jawed (Jawad) Sultani from Afghanistan, who had a

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residency permit. German authorities had rejected his application for asylum, which he had appealed. Dutch police were in close contact with their German counterparts in regards to the suspect's background. A police spokesman initially stated that Amsterdam police were "seriously taking into account" "a terrorist motive", and this motive was later confirmed by the authorities. Dutch authorities said that he was aggrieved against Netherlands and believed that "the Prophet Muhammad, the Quran, Islam and Allah are repeatedly insulted" in the country, specifically referring to

Geert Wilders Geert Wilders (born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch politician who has led the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) since he founded it in 2006. He is also the party's leader in the House of Representatives. Wilders is best known for his right-wing p ...

Victims

The victims were Americans with an

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n background who were in the country for a few days with their wives. They released a message of thanks via the US Embassy in Amsterdam. They thanked the Dutch police at the scene for their quick actions and for saving their lives as well as later support they received from police units and hospital staff. The US Embassy asked that the privacy of the victims be respected.

Trial

The public prosecutor demanded 25 years imprisonment for two attempted murders with terrorist intent. Describing the attacks as ‘shocking’, the public prosecutor said that the impact had been enormous. ‘The random choice of victims is especially frightening,’ he said. ‘He has not shown any remorse and would even appear to be a little proud of what he did.' 'But I assure you', he continued, 'the Dutch government will never give in to terrorism. In this country, discussions are conducted with words, not with knives.’ "The appeals court calls it a cowardly attack,'' it said in a statement, adding that "it is thanks to the very fast response of the police that there weren't more victims." The Amsterdam District Court found Jawed Sultani guilty of two attempted murders with terrorist intent and threatening three police officers, and sentenced him to 26 years and eight months imprisonment. The court said he took a train from Germany to the Dutch capital to avenge what he perceived as insults to

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and did not know his victims were Americans. The attacker is said to have only expressed remorse during his appeals case, but judges were unconvinced by his sincerity and "saw it as a way to reduce his sentence". The two

victims were able to follow the appeals hearing via a video link. The attacker was ordered to pay them a total of nearly €3 million euros in damages.

References

External links

* www.state.gov
''Attack on American Citizens in Amsterdam Share''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amsterdam stabbing attack, 2018 2010s in Amsterdam 2018 in the Netherlands Violence in the Netherlands August 2018 crimes in Europe Stabbing attacks in 2018 Islamic terrorism in the Netherlands Amsterdam stabbing attack Terrorist incidents involving knife attacks in Europe Attacks on tourists in Europe August 2018 in the Netherlands Crime in Amsterdam