Wrong Anti-Terror Policy of Western States Results in Attacks - Russian Lawmaker

Wrong policy of western states that attack the Syrian government instead of fighting against terrorist groups results in terrorist attacks in the European countries, the first deputy chairman of Russia's upper house Defense and Security Committee, told Sputnik on Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, a truck rammed pedestrians in the Sweden capital of Stockholm. Swedish police confirmed that the incident claimed lives of at least four people and one suspect was detained. Following the attack, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said that it was most likely a terrorist attack. On Thursday night, the US military launched multiple cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield near the city of Homs. US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria's Idlib province.

"The terrorist attack [in Sweden] was carried out in the moment, when the United States receiving an approval of Europe decided to attack the Syrian airbase. Instead of struggling against a real threat, the Americans and the Europeans chose to fight against an imaginary enemy, accusing the Syrian government of all possible acts of atrocity," Franz Klintsevich said.

He added that the Swedish incident showed that terrorism had become a mass phenomenon and the European states could not protect their citizens.

The issue of terrorism has become topical for Europeans, as well as for the citizens of other states, as the continent has been targeted by a series of deadly attacks in recent years. These acts of violence include the set of attacks in Paris in November 2015 that killed 130 people, the Nice truck ramming incident in July 2016 that resulted in 86 deaths and some more recent attacks that include March 22 deadly attack on the Westminster Bridge in London that left five people killed and at least 50 injured and Monday's explosion in St. Petersburg metro that resulted in at least 14 deaths.