7 stabbed in Siberian attack; Russia skeptical of IS claim

MOSCOW – A knife-wielding man went on a stabbing rampage Saturday in a Siberian city, wounding seven people before police shot and killed him.

The Islamic State’s Aamaq news agency hours later claimed the attacker was “an Islamic State soldier.” There was no immediate Russian comment and it was unclear if the IS claim was opportunistic.

A statement from Russia’s Investigative Committee said the mid-day attack on a central street in Surgut said the suspect had been identified as a resident in his early 20s. It said information was being sought on his psychiatric condition, suggesting authorities did not suspect terrorism as the likely motive.

The statement gave the number of victims at seven, down from an earlier tally of eight.

Four of the wounded were in serious condition, the state news agency Tass reported, citing regional health official Vladislav Nigmatulin.

Surgut, with a population of about 320,000, is an oil- and gas-producing centre some 2,100 kilometres (1,300 miles) northeast of Moscow.