WAS IT A MUSLIM? Teenager armed with a chainsaw and axe allegedly has beheaded a woman in Minsk mall in Belarus

The 18-year-old ‘sawman’ who also used a hammer, carried out the horrific attack at the Evropa shopping centre in Minsk, Belarus. Terrified eyewitnesses claimed the man wore a mask as he burst into the busy mall and cut off a woman’s head.

UK Express  Hundreds of people were in the centre at the time of the attack.  It is understood the attacker chased shoppers and struck close to a pizza restaurant. One onlooker told Belarus news website Onliner: “He lashed out at the nearest person. believed to be in her 30’s, and cut off her head.”

Police spokesman Alexander Lastovsky confirmed the assailant was detained within two minutes. He added: “When he took out a chainsaw, shoppers first thought it was some kind of game.”Then he cut one woman badly with the chainsaw and hit her with a hammer. Some reports say he also had an axe. She died. He also attacked others.”

Officers cordoned off the mall at around 6pm local time (4pm UK time) and have launched a probe into the shocking incident.  Police spokesman Alexander Lastovsky earlier confirmed that two men were arrested, although the role of the second man is yet unclear.

RT  “The suspect is a citizen of Belarus, born in 1998 and currently living in Minsk,” police chief Alexander Barsukov was quoted as saying by Interfax. “He is now being interrogated at a police station in the capital.”

So far, no motive for the attack has been established. (Show us his photo/give us his name and we’ll supply the motive) Terrorist attacks and indiscriminate killings are relatively rare in Belarus, although a bombing on the Minsk Metro in April 2011 claimed 15 lives.

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