Sweden. Gang war, more people die. The opposition calls for the involvement of the army

In Stockholm, two men were shot dead in two different places in the 12 hours between Wednesday and Thursday. In one case, it happened near the pitch where children were training. At the same time, in the town of Storvreta near Uppsala, a 25-year-old woman died of her injuries as a result of an explosion in a residential building. According to the media, it was an accidental victim and the target was a person living in a neighboring house. Both buildings were completely destroyed. This is the latest act of violence to take place in connection with the war within a drug gang in… Sweden.

On Thursday, due to the ongoing escalation of violence, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson addressed the nation. He declared that the army would be used to fight organized crime. He added that on Friday he would meet with police chiefs and army commanders on this matter.

– More and more children and completely innocent people experience this drastic violence. (…) There has never been anything like this in Sweden. No country in Europe is in a similar situation, he said. The head of government pointed out that the tragedy primarily affects families in areas with social problems. – Honest people live in fear that gangs will attract their children with money, watches and cars – he emphasized.

Kristersson said that “this situation was caused by irresponsible migration policy and failed integration.” – Swedish legislation is not adapted to gang wars and child soldiers, but we will change it – he announced.

He recalled that his government is tightening its migration policy, which results in a smaller inflow of immigrants to Sweden, although their number is growing in Europe, and is changing its security policy. From October 1, it will be possible to preventively use wiretapping by the police.

– Last week I met with the mayor of New York to see how they work: cameras, facial recognition, gun detectors. Sweden must also try this, Kristersson said.

The opposition had previously called for the military to be included in the police’s efforts to combat gang warfare. Leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Workers’ Party and former prime minister Magdalena Andersson – who lost last year’s elections among others because voters negatively assessed her government’s ability to fight crime – she called on Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to change the law to make this possible.

– This isn’t Sweden. This is not how Sweden should be, said Magdalena Andersson at the conference on Thursday.

– Patrols conducted by police officers could be carried out by the army. Moreover, the army has technical knowledge that can help, argued the leader of the Social Democrats.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Gunnar Stroemmer, asked on the same day by TV4 whether the army should be involved in the fight against crime, replied that “we certainly need closer cooperation, for example using helicopters.” – We need to strengthen the police – he said. He said then that despite everything, the government was not planning to deploy soldiers. “We have to find a better solution,” he said.

According to the police, the targets of many attacks are people associated with the conflict in the Foxtrot drug gang that has been ongoing for several months. Its boss, Rawa Majid, nicknamed the Kurdish Fox, resides in Turkey and gives orders from there. Some of the victims are the criminals’ relatives: mothers, sisters or partners. – We are unable to ensure everyone’s safety, some relatives change their addresses – said the spokesman for the Uppsala Regional Police, Magnus Jansson Klarin.

Police estimate that around 30,000 people in Sweden are directly involved in gang activities or have links with them. Acts of violence are increasingly occurring also in smaller towns, where they were rare before.

In September alone, 22 people were killed by bullets, making it the deadliest month since 2016 for shooting deaths, with police starting reporting statistics in 2016. Previously, there were so few of them that there was no need to inform about them.

On Wednesday, the Swedish government convened a crisis team in connection with previous detonations in which random people were injured. Explosives are planted by criminal groups, most often to intimidate victims.

Among the measures proposed by the government to fight the criminal world is a significant increase in penalties for illegal possession of weapons or pyrotechnic materials. A register of people who have access to dynamite sticks used in construction is also to be created.