Swedish authorities have arrested a suspected organizer behind a record number of recent bombings across the country.
In recent weeks, Sweden has been hit by a wave of explosions, with six blasts occurring in different locations just on Tuesday alone. Police successfully detained a suspect whom they describe as one of the key figures behind the recent attacks.
“In our assessment, he played a significant role in this context,” said Max Åkerwall, Deputy Chief of Stockholm’s Southern Police District.
Åkerwall explained that the attacks are largely orchestrated by individuals outside Sweden who control and coordinate them in various ways. Meanwhile, young men—many of them runaways from social service placements—are often recruited to carry out the bombings.
“There is no direct connection between the perpetrators and the targeted locations. They travel from other parts of Sweden to carry out these attacks,” he noted.
Despite the surge in violence, Åkerwall emphasized that police have managed to prevent as many attacks as those that have occurred.
So far this year, around 30 explosions have been recorded, most of them in the Stockholm region. According to police, the bombings stem from gang-related conflicts and a sharp rise in extortion cases, targeting both business owners and private individuals.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has labeled the wave of explosions as “domestic terrorism.” Meanwhile, Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer has convened the Council Against Organized Crime for an emergency meeting on Thursday, January 30 to address the escalating violence.
Sweden has seen a sharp increase in gang-related violence in recent months, with criminal networks engaging in deadly turf wars across the country.
