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At least three people have been killed and nine others injured as a knife-wielding attacker ‍went ‍on a ​rampage in the Taiwanese capital Taipei.

The 27-year-old suspect set off smoke bombs at Taipei’s main metro station, before running to another station in a busy shopping district, stabbing people along the way, Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai said.

The suspect, named by officials as Taiwanese man Chang Wen, later died after falling from a multi-storey building, Cho added. His motive remains unclear.

Attacks of this kind are rare in Taiwan, which has low rates of violent crime. The last time a similar incident struck Taipei was more than a decade ago in 2014.

Friday’s attack took place at about 17:20 local time (09:20 GMT) during the city’s evening rush hour.

Videos shared on social media show people fleeing the scene in panic as an individual wearing a baseball cap and black clothing lobs smoke bombs across a busy road.

He can then be seen carrying a large knife as he walks past several cars.

Cho said the suspect had detonated smoke bombs and Molotov cocktails at Taipei’s Main Station, which is connected to a busy underground shopping street.

A man reportedly tried to stop the attacker but was struck with a blunt object and later died in hospital.

The suspect then fled through an underground shopping centre to the nearby Zhongshan Station, about a 800m walk away.

After a detour to his hotel, where he picked up a weapon, he ran back to the street outside Zhongshan Station and set off further smoke bombs. He also stabbed more people.

The attacker went into a nearby bookshop and department store, but fell from the building after police surrounded him. He died shortly after in hospital.

Cho said he had ordered increased security at metro and railway stations, as well as airports, in response to the attack.

“We will ‌investigate [the suspect’s] background and associated relationships to understand his motives and ‍determine ‌if there are other connected factors,” the Taiwanese premier was quoted by news agency Reuters as saying.

Taiwan’s President William Lai also promised a swift investigation.

The suspect had a criminal record and was wanted by the authorities, according to local media reports.

The last major incident of this kind, in 2014, saw a man kill four people on an underground train in Taipei, shocking people in Taiwan. The perpetrator of that attack was executed two years later.

The Australian state where the Bondi shooting occurred plans to ban the phrase “globalise the intifada” as part of a crackdown on “hateful” slogans.

New South Wales (NSW) premier Chris Minns has also called for a Royal Commission into the Bondi attack, marking the deadliest shooting in Australia in nearly 30 years.

Fifteen people were killed and dozens injured last Sunday when two gunmen, believed to have been motivated by “Islamic State ideology”, opened fire on a Jewish festival at the country’s most iconic beach.

Australia’s state and federal governments have announced a raft of measures to counter extremism since the attack.

Minns plans to recall the state parliament next week to pass through stricter hate speech and gun restrictions. Earlier this week, he also suggested he would tighten protest laws to scale back mass demonstrations to encourage “a summer of calm”.

The premier confirmed he would seek to classify the chant “globalise the intifada” as hate speech.

Two pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly shouting slogans involving intifada at a demonstration in central London.

The term intifada came into popular use during the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1987.

Some have described the term as a call for violence against Jewish people. Others have said it is a call for peaceful resistance to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and actions in Gaza.

Earlier this week, Minns, along with the NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane, attended the funeral Matilda, 10, who was the youngest victim of the Bondi shooting. He read out a poem dedicated to the young girl at the event.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese has announced a new gun buyback scheme to purchase surplus, newly banned and illegal firearms. Hundreds of thousands of guns will be collected and destroyed, the government predicts.

Around 1,000 lifeguards staged a tribute on Saturday, lining up arm-to-arm facing the ocean, on the shorelines of Bondi beach. Surf lifesaving teams at other beaches around Australia were photographed performing a similar memorial.

Through the week, Bondi’s surf volunteers have been commemorated as some of the heroes of the shooting. Lifeguard Jackson Doolan was photographed sprinting over from a neighbouring beach during the attack carrying a red medical supply bag.

Hundreds of swimmers and surfers paddled out at Bondi beach yesterday to create a giant circle to pay tribute to the victims of the attack.

On Sunday, Australia will hold a national day of reflection with the theme “light over darkness” marking precisely one week after the attack started with a minute’s silence at 6:47 pm (0747 GMT).

Flags will fly at half-mast and Australians are being asked to light a candle in their windows to honour the victims.

“Sixty seconds carved out from the noise of daily life, dedicated to 15 Australians who should be with us today,” prime minister Albanese told reporters Saturday.

“It will be a moment of pause to reflect and affirm that hatred and violence will never define us as Australians.”

Bondi’s attack was Australia’s worst mass shooting since Port Arthur in 1996, where 35 people were killed and prompted then-prime minister John Howard to introduce strict gun control measures.