Sweden charges man over alleged IS school attack plot

Swedish prosecutors have charged a 19-year-old man with planning a knife attack on a high school in the name of the Islamic State group.

The prosecution service said Friday that the man planned to wound or kill people at a high school in Halmstad, southern Sweden, between March 1 and April 13.

He has also been charged with belonging to a terrorist organisation and public incitement to terrorism. Prosecutors said he was arrested in April and did not identify him.

Deputy chief prosecutor Henrik Olin said he could prove the accused had “a direct terrorist intent.” The trial is scheduled to begin on November 19 and last four days.

The Swedish Security Service, Sapo, conducted the preliminary investigation. It said the accused had consumed and disseminated violent Islamist propaganda online, stated that he was willing to swear allegiance to IS and urged others to spread the group's message.

Sapo operations chief Fredrik Hallstrom said the main threat of attacks now came from people acting alone against accessible targets using simple means, including bladed weapons. He said youths and children were at particular risk of being drawn into extremist material online.