Finnish police officers to get submachine guns

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - Finnish police officers will soon have MP5 submachine guns in addition to their normal equipment.

Ari Alanen of Finland's top police body says the increased terror threat is the main reason for the upgrade. No details were immediately available on when the weapons would be handed out to the country's more than 7,000 officers.

Alanen told Finland's news agency STT on Friday that "we must increasingly consider the weapons we need to take with us."

On Aug. 18, a Moroccan asylum-seeker killed two and wounded eight people in a stabbing rampage in western Finland. He is being held on preliminary murder charges and suspicion of terrorist crimes.

No one with the National Police Board was immediately available for comment.

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This story has been corrected to show the date of the stabbing rampage is Aug. 18, not Aug. 19.