Sweden, riots after Islamophobic actions by the far right

Three nights of fighting occurred in Sweden during a series of demonstrations and anti-marches following the anti-Islam actions promoted by a far-right group, which burned a copy of the Koran and threatened to do so again.

The BBC reports.

    Violence took place on the outskirts of Stockholm but also in Malmo, Linköping and Norrköping.

In the Rosengrad neighborhood of Malmo, police dispersed a crowd of demonstrators who had set a bus on fire.

The right-wing extremists of the Stram Kurs (Hard Line) movement, led by extremist Rasmus Paludan, met in the city.

Vehicles were set on fire and some protesters threw stones at the police.

    More clashes between police and demonstrators have hit Sweden in recent days.

At least 16 police officers were reportedly injured and several police vehicles destroyed in the riots following the far-right group's demonstrations in the outskirts of Stockholm and in the cities of Linköping and Norrköping.

    The head of the Swedish national police, Anders Thornberg, stressed the brutality of the actions, which also echoed outside the country's borders.

    The Iraqi foreign ministry summoned the Swedish chargé d'affaires to Baghdad and warned that the affair could have "serious repercussions" on relations between Sweden and Muslim communities in general.

    Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh protested to the Swedish government saying he held it "responsible" for the "deliberate reiteration of acts against Islam" which "hurt the feelings of Muslims in that country and in the world".

He asking for "an immediate, strong and clear reaction to the guilty".