Terror truck attack in Stockholm, Sweden, kills 4 people.

The truck used in the attack after crashing into a store. BBC/Reuters.

Another truck ramming attack has occurred, this time killing 4 in Stockholm, Sweden. BBC. The driver had hijacked a beer truck and used it as a weapon that plowed into several people, killing four of them and wounding more than a dozen more.. He then fled the seen of the crime. Police have arrested a suspect in the attack after posting his picture onto social media and handing it out to media organizations. Swedish Prime Minster Stefan Lofven called the attack an incident of terrorism. No terror organizations have taken credit for the attack. 

My Comment:

Yet another vehicle ramming attack. After the Nice attack in France, that killed 86 people, I predicted that this kind of attack would continue due to copycats. Since there there have been attacks in Ohio, Berlin, London and now Stockholm. Given how effective and simple these attacks have been I think they will continue for the foreseeable future. 

I am surprised that only four people died in this attack. Given the size of the truck and the speed which it was traveling, it is amazing to me that only four were killed and a dozen were wounded. You would think that more would have been killed, but perhaps the fact that the truck crashed into a department store had something to do with it. Perhaps the Swedes were paying closer attention and were able to flee? 

I do think that this trend is going to continue. It's about the perfect way to conduct a terror attack in terms of cost and effectiveness. It is possibly the cheapest way to conduct a terror attack. If you can steal a truck, or use one that you already own, it's essentially free. Most of the time you need to hijack one and for that all you need is a knife or a small gun and those are both cheap and easily obtainable as well. Once you have a vehicle it's only a matter of finding a target where a lot of people are gathered closely together. That's an easy task in the crowded cities of Europe and North America. 

And there are very few ways to defend against these kinds of attacks. Even armed guards at the target of the attack wouldn't help much. Assuming they get off a successful shot that kills the driver, a minor miracle in itself, all you have done is change the deliberately driven truck into an out of control one. And that assumes that there is anyone there to respond to the attack. Most of the time there won't be. 

I do wonder why the Nice attack that started this trend was so much more deadly than any of the other attacks, including the Stockholm attack? Part of that was the conditions at the Nice attack. The attack occurred during a major holiday and occurred on a wide thoroughfare that was crowded with people. The other attacks either had less people or were in less crowded conditions with fewer people on the streets. The Ohio attack, which resulted in zero innocent deaths, was largely a result of the attack using a compact car instead of a large commercial truck.

I am not surprised at all that this attack happened in Sweden. Though Sweden has, until today, been spared major terror attacks, I always thought it was just a matter of time before they had a terrorist incident. Of course Sweden is the only country I know if that has a major grenade attack problem that somehow doesn't qualify as terrorism...

Sweden has had major problems integrating their Muslim minority, and have invited hundreds of thousands more during the migrant crisis. This has had major repercussions and resulted in riots, grenade attacks, rapes, and now terrorism. But the government of Sweden denies a problem and labels everyone who is concerned about the problem a racist. As long as that is the case I see Sweden's terror problem getting worse, not better...