GANGS USE BOMBS TO SETTLE SCORE IN SWEDEN

Bomb squad has probed 99 blasts, 76 undetonated devices this year

SWEDEN, often held up as a safe and peaceful utopia, has experienced an unprecedented wave of bombings this year as criminal gangs increasingly use explosives to settle scores.

Regularly placed near the top of the United Nation’s Human Development Index and among the world’s richest countries in terms of gross domestic product per capita, the country is facing an unusual challenge as bombings become a regular occurrence.

“We see no equivalent internationally,” Swedish police commissioner Anders Thornberg said.

“I understand that many people are worried about what is happening. There’s a sense that the criminals’ vendettas are creeping closer to the general public.”

In the past week alone, a bomb exploded in a stairwell in a Malmo apartment building, an explosive device was found outside a shopping centre in the southern town of Kristianstad, and a blast rocked the balcony at a block of flats in Hassleholm in southern Sweden.

While few of the blasts have caused serious injuries, the bomb squad had been called out to investigate 99 explosions in the first 10 months of the year.

That’s more than double the number for the same period last year. In addition, 76 undetonated devices had been investigated.

“You have to conclude that this has become a trend, one that is escalating,” Linda Staaf, head of the police’s criminal intelligence unit, said.

Apartment buildings, small businesses and police stations had been targeted.

The bombs varied in size, with some the equivalent of large fireworks, while others have been larger.

The full picture behind the bombings is complex, and overall, Sweden remains a country with low levels of violence.

The bombings are largely the result of vendettas between criminal gangs, Staaf said.

Criminals have increasingly been using explosives over the last several years, but while they previously preferred hand grenades and other factory-made explosives, they have recently shifted to home-made and more powerful devices, Staaf said.

The violence in criminal circles has grown more severe over time, Staaf said, as vendettas, usually stemming from the drug trade, are often aimed at outdoing the other side rather than responding in a tit-for-tat manner.

“Sometimes the original dispute has been long forgotten, and it’s about retribution,” Staaf said.

She said most perpetrators had grown up in areas the Swedish police describe as “vulnerable”.

Thornberg said the rising violent crime presented an “incredibly complex challenge”, but said law enforcement was stepping up efforts.