(MENAFN- Gulf Times) A Swedish cartoonist believed to have been the target of one of the deadly weekend Copenhagen shootings said on Tuesday that Danish police had underestimated the terrorist threat since January's Paris attacks.
"The attacker had good weapons, he had better weapons than the police... There was an escalation since the Charlie Hebdo attacks (in Paris) and the Danes had not caught onto that," Lars Vilks, who has been forced into hiding, said.
"They did not step up security on Saturday. It was the same as we had previously... they must consider whether they need to be better armed," Vilks added, referring to the cultural centre in Copenhagen that was the focus of the first of the twin attacks.
It took place as the centre was hosting a forum on Islam and free speech.
The 68-year-old cartoonist believed to have been the target of the shooting emerged unharmed after a gunman fired off dozens of rounds, killing a documentary film maker and injuring three police officers.
He later attacked the Copenhagen synagogue where he killed a Jewish man standing guard outside.
Vilks - who has faced several death threats since his cartoon on the Prophet Muhammad was published in a Swedish newspaper in 2007 - has lived under police protection since 2010.
Swedish police said on Monday they had moved the artist from his southern Swedish home to an undisclosed "safe" location.
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