A vehicle-ramming attack on Drottninggatan killed five people and marked one of Sweden's deadliest terrorist incidents of the modern era.
Key Facts
- Date
- 7 April 2017
- Deaths
- 5 people
- Seriously injured
- 14 people
- Perpetrator
- Rakhmat Akilov, Uzbek national, age 39
- Sentence
- Life in prison with lifetime expulsion from Sweden
- Affiliation claimed
- Islamic State
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Rakhmat Akilov, a 39-year-old Uzbek citizen whose asylum application had been rejected by Sweden, recorded a pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State the day before the attack. Uzbek authorities alleged he had joined the group. His rejection of legal status and extremist radicalization preceded his decision to carry out the attack.
On 7 April 2017, Akilov hijacked a truck and drove it into crowds along Drottninggatan, a busy pedestrian street in central Stockholm, before crashing it into an Åhléns department store. The attack killed five people and seriously injured 14 others. Akilov was apprehended by police several hours after the incident.
Akilov was convicted of murder and terrorist crimes by a Swedish court and sentenced to life imprisonment, with provisions for deportation to Uzbekistan and lifetime expulsion from Sweden upon any release. The attack prompted renewed debate in Sweden about immigration policy, border security, and the monitoring of radicalized individuals with rejected asylum status.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Rakhmat Akilov.
Side B
1 belligerent