Police affirm stance that Afula suspect intended to attack.
By BEN HARTMAN
Police believe a Nazareth woman who attempted to stab a soldier at the Afula Central Bus Station earlier this month had every intention of carrying out a terrorist attack, despite media reports to the contrary, a spokesman for the Northern District said.Spokesman Ch.-Supt. Doron Malka said he is not allowed to comment in depth on the case, but that suspect Asra Zidane “told police that she came to the station in order to be a shahid [martyr]” and that “everything in her behavior indicated to us that she came to carry out a terrorist attack.”Malka added that the police has gathered evidence that indicate what her intentions were and that there are a series of other charges she could face regardless.According to reports in the local media on Wednesday night, the Northern District State Prosecutor’s Office does not intend to charge Zidane with attempted murder for the attack three weeks ago, when she tried and failed to stab a soldier, then was filmed being shot several times by police and security guards after a short standoff at the station.The reports stated that prosecutors had determined that she had had the ability to stab people but did not.Zidane’s family has maintained that she is mentally disturbed and a number of media reports in recent weeks have stated that there are doubts that she was looking to carry out a terrorist attack.Some implied that she was looking for a way to commit suicide by spurring police or soldiers to shoot her dead.