Portugal: Muslim centre stabbings probed as possible terror act

A man wielding a large knife killed two women and injured several other people at an Ismaili Muslim centre in Lisbon, and Portuguese authorities said they were investigating Tuesday's stabbing attack as a possible terror act.

The women were Portuguese staff members at the centre, Ismaili community leader Narzim Ahmad told Portuguese TV channel SIC.

Officers dispatched to the centre late Tuesday morning encountered a man armed with a knife, according to a police statement. The officers ordered him to surrender and he was shot when he advanced toward them, the statement said.

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A suspect was in police custody at a Lisbon hospital. Investigators were looking into terrorism as a possible motive.

Several other people were wounded, according to the statement, which provided no further details.

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said police shot the suspect and told reporters the attack was “a criminal act".

“Everything points to this being an isolated incident,” Costa said, without elaborating.

Armed police from a special operations unit could be seen forming a perimeter outside the building.

The Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, generally known as the Ismailis, belong to the Shia branch of Islam. The Ismaili Muslims are a culturally diverse community living in more than 25 countries around the world.

Portugal hasn't recorded any significant terror attacks in recent decades, and religious violence is virtually unheard of.

“The Ismaili community is shocked and saddened by this incident and is providing support to the families of the victims,” the Ismaili Community said in a statement. Neither police nor the community identified the women who died.