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Sweden is considering using the military to help police fight gang crime after a sharp increase in fatal shootings and bomb attacks in the Scandinavian country.
Center-right Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told the nation in a televised address that he had held a meeting with the heads of the Swedish defense forces and police forces on Friday to discuss how the military could help.
“I cannot emphasize enough the seriousness of the situation. Sweden has never seen anything like this before. No other country in Europe is seeing anything like this at the moment,” Christersen said late Thursday.
Sweden is facing its worst domestic security situation since World War II, with immigrant drug cartels locked in bloody conflict, the police chief said. Police believe criminal groups are increasingly using children to commit crimes, as children under 18 often go unpunished or receive light sentences by the courts.
Sweden already saw a record number of fatal shootings last year, and this September looks set to go down as the worst month ever.
“It is political naivety and incompetence that have brought us here,” the Swedish Prime Minister said. “It is irresponsible immigration policies and failed integration efforts that have brought us here. Social exclusion and parallel societies fuel crime. Gangs who can ruthlessly recruit children and train them into future killers.”
Swedish news bulletins are filled with daily statistics of shootings and bomb attacks that kill not only gang members but also their families and innocent bystanders. “Innocent people are being murdered and injured,” Swedish Police Chief Anders Thornberg said.
Police blame this month’s violence in the capital, Stockholm, on a split within one of the country’s largest drug gangs, which is led by a Swedish Kurdish immigrant currently hiding in Turkey.
Turkey is blocking Sweden from joining Nato, saying Stockholm needs to do more against so-called Kurdish terrorists. But some in Sweden believe the Swedish government should raise the issue of the large number of Swedish criminals sheltering in Turkey with authorities in Ankara.
The opposition Social Democrats, which ruled from 2014 to 2022, this week called on the government to call in the army to protect government buildings and allow police to investigate the violence.
Christerson said “everything is on the table” but gave no specific details on what the military could do.
He added: “We have to hunt down this gang, we have to defeat this gang… We will take the necessary measures to restore order in Sweden.”
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