100 cars torched in Swedish rioting
MORE than 100 cars were set alight in a night of co-ordinated mayhem by hooded youths in cities across Sweden.
Acting in what authorities said was “almost a military operation”, yobs launched simultaneous attacks on vehicles in locations up to 300 miles apart.
They smashed windows and windscreens before pouring flammable liquids into the cars and torching them.
In several places the gangs also set fire to tyres and pelted police with rocks but amazingly no injuries were reported. The worst violence erupted in the western city of Gothenburg, where huge columns of smoke rose into the sky after at least 60 vehicles were targeted on Monday night.
Other attacks came in Malmo, Uppsala, Hjallbo, Helsingborg, Falkenberg, Trollhattan and the capital Stockholm.
Swedish PM Stefan Lofven said: “It looks very coordinated, almost like a military operation.” Addressing the yobs directly, he added: “Honestly, what are you doing? You are destroying for yourselves, for your parents, for the entire residential area. Society must respond harshly to this.”
Police said they had identified some of the youths but had made no arrests.
Sweden is heading for an election on September 9 in which crime is set to be a key issue. The country has been rocked by gun and grenade attacks and claims that deprived areas with high levels of immigration have become no-go zones.