Two Bombs Detonate in Central Stockholm

Two bombs exploded in central Stockholm early Saturday evening, killing a suicide bomber and injuring two others. Both bombings occurred close to Drottninggatan, a popular pedestrian walkway that had been filled with Christmas shoppers.

Today, the New York Times is reporting that one of the bombs had gone off prematurely, narrowly averting what could have been a much more devastating attack in a crowded commercial district filled with holiday shoppers. CNN quotes Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt as saying that the consequences could have been "truly catastrophic."

The police also appeared to confirm that the bomber was a disaffected Iraqi-born Swede who had attended college in Britain.

Photograph courtesy of Holger.Ellgaard