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Rescuers at the scene of one of the explosions in Stockholm
Photo: Pontus Altin / TT / IMAGO
Nocturnal shots and explosions: In parts of Stockholm there have been repeated acts of violence in the past few days.
This continues a development that led to a sad record last year.
Sweden has been struggling with rampant gang crime for a number of years, which repeatedly manifests itself in shots and explosions.
According to police statistics, there were 388 firearm incidents in the EU country in 2022.
61 people died - more than ever before in one year.
Drug market conflict suspected
In Stockholm, shots and detonations have increased noticeably since Christmas.
Early on Friday morning, for the second night in a row, an apartment building in the outskirts of Farsta was shelled without anyone being injured.
A few hours earlier, an explosive charge had exploded in a stairwell in Årsta – also in the south of Stockholm.
According to the Aftonbladet newspaper, the remains of a hand grenade were found.
No one was injured here either.
There were no arrests.
The background to these acts is suspected, among other things, in a conflict over the drug market in the city of Sundsvall, almost 400 kilometers further north.
According to the radio station SVT and Aftonbladet, a 24-year-old with a criminal network is in charge there, but a notorious 36-year-old and his entourage want to challenge him for this position.
Several of the acts are said to be directed against relatives of the two main actors in this conflict.
zob/dpa
