Ten years ago, Salim Iskef fled Syria to Sweden after his father was killed by Islamic State militants. Tragically, this week he was fatally attacked by an unemployed Swedish man in Orebro, central Sweden. The 29-year-old victim, part of Sweden's Syriac-speaking community, was due to marry in summer and had recently purchased a house with his fiancée.
Jacob Kaselia, a friend and priest, shared, "He had so many beautiful plans and dreams, all gone in a second." The Syriac-speaking community, a Christian group with deep roots in the Middle East, counts nearly 200,000 members in Sweden, with 5,000 residing in Orebro.
The attack at the Risbergska adult education center, which took 11 lives including the assailant's, shocked the nation. Witnesses described the scene as an 'inferno,' with victims of various backgrounds. The school provides courses and Swedish language classes for immigrants, and police are exploring the possibility that the perpetrator may have been a former student.
In the aftermath, Merwa, a close friend of Iskef, recounted the horror of the event and expressed doubt about returning to school. Meanwhile, the motive for the attack carried out by Rickard Andersson remains unclear.
As Kaselia reflected on the tragedy, he pondered, "Why did he do this? What was in his brain? We don't know. We must pray that the Lord forgives him."