Auckland, Sep 3 (TIWN) New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Friday confirmed that the violent attack that took place at the New Lynn supermarket in Auckland was a "terrorist attack" carried out by a Sri Lankan national who was shot dead by the police.

A spokesperson of ambulance service St Johns said at least six people were injured during the attack that occurred at around 2.40 p.m., including three in critical conditions, reports Xinhua news agency.  "A violent extremist undertook a terrorist attack on innocent New Zealanders at a New Lynn Countdown in Auckland," Ardern told a press conference in Wellington.  "This was a violent attack. It was senseless and I'm sorry it happened," she said, adding that the police shot the offender within roughly a minute of the attack happening.  The attacker was a Sri Lankan national who arrived in New Zealand in 2011 and has been closely monitored by the New Zealand Police from 2016 for his Islamic State-inspired ideology, according to Ardern.