Masked vandals torch 80 cars in Sweden

STOCKHOLM: Up to 80 cars were set on

by masked vandals, police said Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila), in what they suspect was a coordinated attack weeks before a general election.

Most of the cars were burned at around 20 locations in Sweden’s second largest city of Gothenburg late Monday.

aged between 16 and 21 have been arrested so far in Gothenburg and would be questioned on Tuesday.

Police said they believe the attacks were organized on social media. No one was injured in the car blazes.

“We’ve never seen this many cars

police spokesman in western Swe-

The incident triggered outrage among Swedish politicians who are busy campaigning for the September 9 general election.

“I’m furious. My question to (the perpetrators) is: what the hell are you doing?” Social Democratic

public broadcaster Swedish Radio on Tuesday. “You’re ruining things for yourselves, your parents and your neigh-

incident “looked very coordinated, almost like a military operation”.

Cars set ablaze is common in Sweden. In Stockholm’s suburbs alone, such crimes happen almost on a daily basis, usually attributed to disadvantaged youths. - - den, compared to 1,641 in 2016, according to the Swedish Civil

“Sweden has tolerated this for too long. This must end now,” Ulf Kristersson, leader of the conservative opposition party, the Moderates, wrote on his Facebook account.

days after US President Donald Trump’s baffling comments linking crime to immigration in Sweden, riots broke out in the immigrant-heavy northern Stockholm suburb of Rinkeby.

Dozens of youths clashed with police after they arrested a suspected drug dealer in Rinkeby. The rioters threw stones at police, burned cars and looted shops.