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CRIMINAL

Hells Angels behind MC gang attack: report

A man was shot in the leg, another was stabbed and a third received a blow to the head with an axe when a group of men stormed into a motorcycle gang premises in Skene in western Sweden.

The police are investigating reports from the victims that the Hell Angels were behind the attack which took place in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The three injured parties, who are all men aged 25-30-years-old, were taken in private cars to the hospital, where the police were informed of the incident.

It remained unclear to which motorcycle gang the injured men belong.

“I have no information about that,” said Ulla Brehm at Västra Götaland police.

The Hell Angels have been linked to similar attacks in recent months.

In early May 18 men linked to the gang attacked a biker party outside Kalmar in southern Sweden, assaulting eight people with punches, kicks and weapons.

“There have been a number of incidents where they have strayed into someone else’s territory,” said Lars Öjelind, the national police commissioner for gang-related crime, to the TT news agency.

Öjelind is not familiar with the latest case in Skene, but explained that tension has been building between the rival gangs throughout the summer and autumn.

“But it’s been up and down. Right now it’s been pretty quiet for a while, as far as we can see. But it is a tense situation between a number of these kinds of groups,” he said.

No one has yet been arrested in connection with the attack in Skene. Police have classified the incident as attempted manslaughter.

A forensic examination of the premises was conducted on Saturday as well as several interviews with witnesses.

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SYRIA

Swiss woman stands trial for attempting to join Islamic State

A 31-year-old woman from Winterthur who tried to travel to Syria to join Islamic State (IS) is standing trial under Swiss anti-terror laws.

Swiss woman stands trial for attempting to join Islamic State
The federal criminal court in Bellinzona. Photo: Swiss Confederation/OFCL

The alleged ‘jihadi tourist' appeared before Switzerland's federal criminal court in Bellinzona on Friday, the Swiss news agency SDA reported. 

In December 2015, the woman, accompanied by her four-year-old child, attempted to travel to Syria via Greece and Turkey in order to join IS, the authorities allege. 

Her intended destination was Raqqa, which was at the time an IS stronghold in Syria.

The woman was prevented from continuing her journey by the Greek authorities and was arrested at Zurich airport on her return to Switzerland in January 2016. 

The Swiss attorney general's office filed an indictment against the Swiss national for offences under the federal law that bans terror groups including Isis. 

According to the indictment, the woman radicalized herself through internet propaganda after converting to Islam in 2009.

It says the Swiss national believed it was the duty of all Muslims to support IS.

She said she rejected western values.

This is only the second case concerning a so-called ‘jihadi tourist' to go before Switzerland's federal criminal court. 

The first prosecution of its kind took place in 2016, when a 26-year-old man was found guilty of attempting to travel to join Isis and given an 18-month suspended jail sentence.

Islamic State has been banned in Switzerland since 2014.