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Sweden plans to deploy troops to stamp out gang violence that has left 12 people dead this month, as the country’s prime minister prepares to hold crisis meetings with the head of the armed forces today.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has pledged to defeat criminal gangs and will meet military chief Micael Biden and national police chief Anders Thornberg today to “see how the armed forces can help police fight gangs.”
It comes after 12 bloody hours where an 18-year-old rapper was executed on a sports field, a second man shot dead and a 25-year-old woman killed in a devastating attack in Stockholm.
And this month has been the deadliest so far in terms of shootings with 12 people killed. These include a 13-year-old boy who was found dead in the woods of a Stockholm suburb after being shot in the head, in another example of “crude and completely reckless gang violence” , prosecutors said.
The Scandinavian country has in recent years been gripped by a bloody conflict between gangs competing for arms and drug trafficking, which has intensified because of feuds between the gangs.
Apartment buildings and homes across the country are frequently rocked by explosions, while shootings, once limited to deprived areas, have become regular events in public places in this usually quiet, wealthy country.
Milo, a 13-year-old boy (pictured), was found dead in the woods of a Stockholm suburb after being shot in the head, in another example of ‘crude and completely reckless gang violence’ , prosecutors said.
Early Thursday morning, a 25-year-old woman died in an explosion that ripped through her house and four neighboring buildings in Storvreta, near Uppsala, north of Stockholm.
Police officers are investigating the scene where a young man was shot dead on a sports field in southern Stockholm on Wednesday evening.
The streets of the Swedish capital descended into carnage amid a wave of anarchy, with the three murders committed within 12 hours of each other.
“We are going to track down the gangs. We will defeat the gangs,” Kristersson said in a televised address to the nation on Thursday evening, after three people were killed Wednesday night.
It is not yet clear how the military might get involved in combating gang violence, but previous meetings suggest soldiers could take charge of some police shootings to free up specialist officers to fight crime.
On Wednesday evening, an 18-year-old rapper was shot dead at the Mälarhöjden sports ground in Fruängen, southern Stockholm, in a brazen attack during football practice.
Within hours, one man was killed and another injured in a shooting in Jordbro, south of the Swedish capital. Minutes after police were called to reports of gunfire, a van crashed into a home in the area before two men fled the vehicle.
And early Thursday morning, a 25-year-old woman died in an explosion that ripped through her house and four neighboring buildings in Storvreta, near Uppsala, north of Stockholm.
Footage of the bomb’s aftermath shows the woman’s building destroyed, with broken windows hanging haphazardly outside her home in a scene that witnesses have compared to a war zone.
Police believe the woman, a master’s student who was studying to become a teacher, was not the target of the bomb. The real target was a relative of gangster Rawa Majid, known as “Purple Fox”, who lived next door to the victim but appeared to be away at the time, reports Aftonbladet.
“There were screams of panic and the smell of smoke,” said a neighbor of the young woman. Express. “It felt like we were in a war zone.”
Separately, two people were killed and two others injured last Friday when a gunman opened fire in a crowded bar in Sandviken, northwest of Stockholm.
And earlier this month, a 13-year-old boy, identified only as Milo, was found dead in the woods near his home on the outskirts of Stockholm earlier this month.
Milo was shot in the head in a chilling example of “gross and completely reckless gang violence,” prosecutor Lisa dos Santos said at the time. He was reportedly shot dead in Haninge, south of Stockholm.
“A growing number of children and completely innocent people are being affected by this extreme violence,” Kristersson said.
“Sweden has never seen anything like this. No other country in Europe experiences such a situation.
Police are investigating after an explosion occurred in a residential area in Storvreta, near Uppsala, Sweden on Thursday morning.
Footage of the bomb’s aftermath shows the woman’s building destroyed, with broken windows hanging haphazardly outside her home in a scene that witnesses have compared to a war zone.
Footage of the bomb’s aftermath shows the woman’s building destroyed, with broken windows hanging haphazardly outside her home in a scene that witnesses have compared to a war zone.
A man was killed and another injured in a shooting in Jordbro, south of the Swedish capital.
Criminal gangs have become a growing problem in Sweden, with an increasing number of drive-by shootings, bombings and grenade attacks. Most of the violence occurs in Sweden’s three largest cities: Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö.
The violence is fueled by a feud between Rawa Majid, who lives in Turkey, and his former lieutenant Ismail Abdo, known as “The Strawberry”, whose mother, a woman in her 60s, was shot dead on September 7 and died from her injuries.
According to a tally by Swedish public television SVT, 12 people were killed in shootings and explosions in September, the deadliest month in the past four years. The increase in murders has shocked the Swedes.
“Crime has reached unprecedented levels. The situation is very serious in Uppsala and the rest of the country,” Uppsala police chief Catarina Bowall told reporters.
Kristersson said serious organized crime had increased over the past decade “because of naivety”.
“An irresponsible immigration policy and failed integration have led us here,” declared the conservative leader.
“Swedish legislation was not designed for gang wars and child soldiers. But we are changing that now,” he said.
On Wednesday evening, an 18-year-old rapper was shot dead at the Mälarhöjden sports ground in Fruängen, southern Stockholm, in a brazen attack during football training (police on site).
One man killed and another injured in shooting in Jordbro, south of Swedish capital: police pictured at the scene on Thursday morning
Police responded to the scene after a man was shot and killed and another person injured in Jordbro in the early hours of Thursday.
He spoke of the entry into force in the coming days of new legislation allowing the police to wiretap gangs, as well as plans for body searches in certain areas, harsher sentences for repeat offenders and double penalties for certain crimes.
“We will judge them. If they are Swedish citizens, they will be incarcerated and sentenced to long prison terms, and if they are foreigners, they will be deported,” he said.
“We will expel foreigners who operate in criminal circles even if they have not committed any crime.”
He added that Sweden should also introduce surveillance cameras in public places and build special prisons for teenage criminals.
In 2022, Sweden recorded 391 shootings, 62 of which were fatal.