A knife attack by a man reportedly shouting "Allahu akbar" that wounded three people at a Swiss train station on Thursday was a "terrorist act", a regional security official said.
"I am exceptionally calling this a terrorist attack," Mario Fehr, in charge of security in the Swiss canton of Zurich, told reporters, adding that it was "clear from the scene that the motive for this act must be sought in the realm of radicalisation and extremism".
Earlier police for Zurich canton said in a statement: "Shortly after 8:30 am (0630 GMT), a man injured three people with a bladed weapon" at the station in the city of Winterthur, northeast of Zurich.
They said the suspected perpetrator -- a 31-year-old Swiss man -- had been arrested and that his "motive is under investigation".
Attacks targeting random passersby are rare in Switzerland.
Images broadcast by several Swiss media outlets and on social media showed a man with long dark hair and a full beard running in front of the station shouting "Allahu akbar!" (God is the greatest), while raising his right hand.
"I heard a man scream 'Allahu akbar' five or six times, in a very agitated manner," one witness was quoted as saying by newspaper Blick.
Several witnesses quoted by Swiss media said he was armed with a knife.
In the footage, filmed from a distance on a mobile phone, the man, wearing a black T-shirt and shorts, is seen running past a group of young children apparently on a school trip, without stopping.
The three people who were injured in the attack in Winterthur -- Switzerland's sixth-largest city -- were aged 28, 43 and 52 and were all Swiss citizens, police said.
"All three were taken to hospital," they said.
The Zurich cantonal police force said it was cooperating with Winterthur municipal police, the Swiss Federal Railways' transport police, and hospital, ambulance and rescue services in the operation.
At the scene, several police cordons were deployed at various locations inside and outside the station, according to images published by local media.
The attack did not cause any disruption to train traffic, Swiss Federal Railways told AFP.
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