Cops probe terror link; victims US citizens
Two people who were seriously injured in a knife attack at Amsterdam's Central Station are US citizens, the US ambassador said yesterday, as Dutch police probed a possible terror link.
"We are aware that both victims were US citizens and have been in touch with them and their families," Pete Hoekstra said in a statement.
Panic broke out at the Dutch capital's main station shortly after midday Friday when the knive-wielding man stabbed two bystanders before he was shot and wounded by police.
Police later identified the suspect as a 19-year-old Afghan man with a German residency permit.
He is being questioned in hospital under police guard and Dutch authorities said they were in close contact with their German counterparts for more details about his background.
A preliminary investigation revealed that the assailant did not know his victims and that he did not specifically target them, the police spokesman said -- suggesting a random attack.
The attack comes a day after an announcement by Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders that he was cancelling moves to stage a cartoon competition to caricature the Prophet Mohammad, a plan that had angered many Muslims.
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