Is this war?

At 2.53pm on Friday 7 April, a truck ploughed through one of Stockholm’s busiest streets, before crashing into a shopping centre.

A CCTV camera from one of the stores on Drottninggatan, shows how panic-stricken people run down the street. Some run into the store, others keep running ahead, before a truck comes barging by in full speed.

Four people died and 15 got injured in the incident.

This is just the latest attack in a series that are spreading through Europe. The previous one, where a man drove into a crowd in central London before barging into the Houses of Parliament in London, happened less than a month ago.

The attacker in Stockholm was quickly caught by police, and has since pleaded guilty to the attack. He was already known to police for commenting on IS propaganda sites online. He was an asylum seeker who should have been deported earlier in the year. Despite this, he managed to make it through the police’s filters unnoticed.

Friends and family back home are talking about “the war”, that it’s finally here. And I regretfully agree. When you no longer feel safe to walk down the streets in your home town, out of fear that some lunatic will barge into you with a car or throw a bomb into a crowd, isn’t that war?

I’ve always felt safe, always trusted our government to protect its people. But when the attacker is already known to police and on their lists, but yet manages to commit such an awful crime, I’ve lost my faith in our government.

At the same time, the government appears to be discussing and disagreeing internally as to how to move forward and prevent further terror attacks. To perhaps make it worse, it comes at a time where the world leaders don’t seem to be able to agree either.

When the terrorists group rose to the public eye only a few years ago, it seemed like a joke. It was too bizarre to be taken seriously, and never in my wildest dreams would I’ve anticipated this outcome.

Now I’m praying for this craziness to end. For our governments to once and for all take control of the situation and make our lives safe again.

Written by: Mimmie Wilhelmson

Mimmie grew up in Sweden and first came to Australia as a backpacker after high school. After travelling around the country for two years she returned to Europe and pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism in London. But the longing for Australia and the sun became too strong. After having worked for some time in the media industry, Mimmie decided to make a change and swap the news for conferences. She now gets to do what she loves the most, meeting new people and keep learning about cultures and issues while producing conferences on current topics.