Finland Attack: Suspect Confesses, Denies Attack Was Terrorism

Rabat – After the August 18 stabbing attack in the town of Turku, which is being investigated as Finland’s first terror attack, the main suspect, initially identified as an 18-year-old Moroccan, is now confirmed to be a 22-year-old man of the same nationality.

While Finnish authorities have described the stabbing attack that resulted in the death of two and the injury of eight people as a “terrorist act,” the main suspect, Abderrahman Bouanane, a 22-year old Moroccan national, denied having a terrorist motive nor intentions to commit murder.

“The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) informed the Turku court on 28 August that the real name of the suspect is Abderrahman Bouanane and his date of birth on 25 October 1994,” the court said in an e-mail to the French Press Agency (AFP).

Bouanane is being prosecuted for “murders and attempted murders of a terrorist nature.” He was heard last week and has agreed to communicate again with hearings official, according to the NBI.

The attack in broad daylight in the center of Turku city was described as “terrorist” by the authorities, but the motive of the alleged killer, who deliberately targeted women according to the police, remains unknown.

According to the Finnish media, the suspect acknowledged responsibility over the attacks. However, he denied that he intended to kill anyone and also denied that his motive was of a terrorist nature.

During the attack, two Finnish women were killed while six other women and two men trying to fend off the attacker were injured.

The attacker is a Moroccan asylum seeker to Finland in 2016. Initially, his name was incorrectly announced as Abdul Rahman Mashkah.

The NBI investigators said the suspect had given “false information” to the Finnish authorities when he arrived in Finland and requested asylum.

Six other people have been arrested on suspicions of being involved in the attack. Three of them have since been released.