Roundup: Gang violence is escalating in Sweden

STOCKHOLM, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- A woman who died in an explosion in Uppsala, west of Stockholm, early Thursday became the 12th victim of gang violence in Sweden since the beginning of September, making it the country's deadliest month in four year.

The woman, who was in her mid-20s, was killed by an explosive device believed to have been intended to injure or frighten a known gang member living in the same district in Uppsala, reports Sveriges Television (SVT).

"The violence is inhumane, incomprehensible and limitless," quoted SVT Catarina Bowall, commanding officer at the Uppsala police, at a press conference.

Late on Wednesday, two young men were killed in separate shootings in two suburbs of Stockholm. Police believe both incidents are connected to criminal gangs.

Although most of the 42 people shot to death so far this year were members of criminal gangs, citizens are becoming increasingly concerned as at least seven of those killed in the past year are believed to have been bystanders, SVT reported.

Since October last year, another 11 people with no known or suspected connection to criminal gangs have been injured in shootings, SVT reported.

- It is bad enough that the gangs shoot and kill each other, but when completely innocent people end up in the firing line, it is absolutely terrible, said Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson at a press conference after a shooting at a pub on September 21. .

Ordinary citizens are also growing weary of the increasingly indiscriminate violence.

- I have lived here for 20 years, but in recent years it has become messy, says a witness to the pub shooting in Sandviken, approximately 190 kilometers northwest of Stockholm, to Dagens Nyheter.

After another recent fatal shooting in a suburb of Stockholm, a witness told Aftonbladet that she lived in fear.

"This is terrible. There have been so many reports of gunfire in the area and I'm now afraid to walk my dog," she said.

In recent decades, Sweden has seen an increase in gun violence. In a study of 23 European countries released in 2021, the Crime Prevention Council found that Sweden had gone from the lowest number of shootings to the highest in the years 2000 to 2019.

The trend has since continued and before last year's election, a survey among 25,000 individuals showed that the Swedish people ranked crime as the most important issue. This feeling had not been seen since the late 1970s, SVT reported.

There have been over 130 bombings in Sweden since January and in the first half of this year alone there were more bombings than last year's total of 90.

On Wednesday, Sweden's government held its second crisis meeting in nine days on the gang violence, which the national police chief has described as "unprecedented".

"The situation is very serious. Bombings are extremely bad as many innocent people are affected," said Minister of Justice Gunnar Strommer to SVT after the meeting.

Among the measures, funding for the justice system will be significantly increased and a new national explosives register will be established.

Soon there will be tougher penalties and tougher penalties for gun crimes and illegal possession of explosives, and the police and social services could more easily exchange information.

However, criminal gangs are a headache not only for Sweden's legal system, as they also expand their operations abroad, such as the Costa del Sol in southern Spain where nearly a thousand Swedish criminals have moved, a police spokesperson told SVT in July.

Authorities in Sweden's western neighbor Norway, where only four gun murders occurred last year, are growing increasingly concerned after noticing that Swedish criminal gangs are expanding their operations there.


https://nord.news/2023/09/28/roundup-gang-violence-is-escalating-in-sweden/?feed_id=47095

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