The two women were filmed being stabbed to death by a knife that went on a rampage at a Muslim religious center in Lisbon.
Portuguese nationals Mariana Gaduje, 24, and Farana Sadruddin, 49, were in the Ismaili center when an Afghan refugee named locally as Abdul Bashir entered with a large knife and attacked them after seriously wounding their English teacher.
The father-of-three, whose wife is said to have died about a year ago, was taken to hospital after being shot in the leg by police responding to emergency calls.
The officers said they shot him when he ignored orders to drop his weapon and started walking towards them. The man with the knife was taken to São José Hospital, where he is in serious condition and remains under arrest.
Friends and well-wishers today paid tribute to Mariana and Varana, who used to work at the religious centre.
Portuguese nationals Mariana Gaduje, 24 (pictured) and Farana Sadruddin, 49, were in the Ismaili Center when an Afghan refugee named locally as Abdul Bashir entered with a large knife and attacked them after their English teacher seriously injured them.
Varana Sadruddin was killed by knife in the attack on the religious center in Lisbon
Farana’s friend Gabriela Navalo called her loss “irreparable”, adding: “Stay safe inside of me, your light, your smile, and our crazy conversations filled with laughter. RIP Farana Sadruddin. May strength to all your family and friends.”
In an online tribute to Mariana, Teresa Pinto added: “How cruel this world can be. Portugal opens its arms to those in need and that is the price.
“Mariana Gaduje, you will always be in my heart as that happy, kind and generous woman.”
It is not yet clear what motivated the attack, but officials said it was an “isolated incident”.
The brother of a witness to the attack, which took place shortly before 11 a.m. on Tuesday, said he was told the man with the knife turned on the victims after they tried to intervene as he stabbed his teacher. The teacher was seriously injured in the attack.
Omid Tairi, president of the Afghan Community Association in Portugal, said the suspect showed “signs of anxiety and desperation” in his daily struggle to be able to feed his children with the scarce resources he had.
But Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Souza, speaking after visiting the scene of the fatal double stabbing and speaking to the mother of the younger of the two murdered women, said: “Nothing justifies the commission of a criminal act.”
The country’s prime minister, Antonio Costa, said everything indicated it was an “isolated incident”.
The hunted man is now under police custody at Sao Jose Hospital in Lisbon.
The attack took place in the Ismaili Center on Tuesday. Pictured: Officers standing outside after the attack
Portuguese government minister Jose Luis Carneiro said the Afghan attacker lost his wife “in difficult circumstances” in a refugee camp in Greece before moving to Portugal with his three children, ages 4, 7 and 9.
Carneiro added that he arrived in Portugal through an EU program that takes asylum seekers to member states to help take pressure off Mediterranean countries like Greece and Italy.
The head of the National Council of the Ismaili Muslim Community, Rahim Ferozali, said the gunman “attacked three people who were in the Ismaili centre, killing two of them and wounding a third”.
Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims commonly known as Ismailis belong to the Shia branch of Islam.
Members of the minority group have been attacked by extremist groups in countries such as Pakistan.
Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims commonly known as Ismailis belong to the Shia branch of Islam.
Ismaili Muslims are a culturally diverse community that lives in more than 25 countries around the world, according to their website.
About 7,000 Ismaili Muslims live in Portugal, a country of about 10 million people.
Portugal has not recorded any major terrorist attacks in recent decades, and religious violence is unheard of.
However, members of the minority group have been attacked by extremist groups in countries like Pakistan.
