Eight injured in stabbing attack in Russia’s Surgut

A man stabbed eight people in a city in Russia’s central Khanty-Mansi autonomous region on Saturday before being shot dead by police.

Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes in the country, said that the incident had taken place in the city of Surgut, situated some 2,100 kilometers northeast of Moscow, at around 11:20 am local time (0620 GMT).

The assailant “carried out attacks on passers-by, causing stab wounds to eight” while “moving along central streets of the city,” the committee said.

It further said that police had used their weapons on the attacker and “liquidated” him.

The Daesh Takfiri terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assault.

Amateur video emerged from the scene, showing a policeman kneeling over the motionless body of the suspect.

The government of the Khanty-Mansi region said in a statement that two of the wounded were in serious condition.

It also called for calm, saying that, “Citizens and media are recommended to use reliable information in assessing the situation until all the circumstances are established.”

Interfax cited the interior ministry’s press service in Khanty-Mansi as saying that the attacker had been identified and that the incident was not being probed primarily as terrorist-related.

“The version that the attack was a terrorist one is not the main one,” the interior ministry’s press service had earlier said, adding that the attacker may have suffered from psychiatric disorders.

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