On Tuesday evening, criminal gangs clashed at the central railway station in Lund, a university city in Sweden. A man in his 30s was shot dead, and police arrested a 17-year-old boy on suspicion of murder. Witnesses at the Lund central station told Sydsvenskan that they heard three to four gunshots at the scene.
I was terrified, so I ran. Then I heard someone shouting,
said one witness.
In recent days, a series of bomb attacks have shaken southern areas of Stockholm. „The districts of Bagarmossen, Blasut, Karrtorp, and Arstaberg have become battlegrounds in ongoing gang wars,” according to Swedish news outlet Samnytt. They also reported that a bomb was detonated in Helsingborg on Tuesday evening, and police were called to a shooting in Sundbyberg, in Stockholm county.
These incidents are just a few of the many violent events linked to criminal gangs in Sweden recently.
Since New Year’s Eve—just 28 days ago—Sweden has been rocked by 30 bomb attacks,
V4NA reports.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson described the escalating gang violence as “domestic terrorism” and vowed to crack down on the gangs. Meanwhile, Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer has convened a meeting of the Counter-organized crime council.
The gangs have complete disregard for society. This is domestic terrorism, and we must fight it with the full force of society,
Kristersson told Aftonbladet.
Swedish media reports that gang-related clashes have multiplied since Christmas. The surge in violence is linked to an ongoing feud between notorious crime bosses Rawa „Kurd Fox” Majid and Ismail „Strawberry” Abdo.
Back in 2023, criminologist Ardavan Khoshnood had warned that Sweden is experiencing bombing incidents at levels rivaling war zones.
Mexico is the only not-at-war country in the world that has more bombings than Sweden,
he pointed out.
Cover photo: Swedish police cars (illustration) (Photo: AFP)
