In one of the deadliest nights in modern Sweden, three people were killed in three incidents. A bomb attack presumably aimed at a local gangster killed a 25-yr-old female neighbour in the Uppsala suburb of Fullerö/Storvreta. In two shootings in the Stockholm area two men were killed. “The situation in society is inhumane, incomprehensible and limitless,” special police chief Catarina Bowall was quoted after a press conference.
The woman killed in the substantial bomb explosion that destroyed two and damaged another three houses in Uppsala was quite likely an innocent victim, police said during a press conference. In the same area a person connected to a known Foxtrot criminal gang of the so-called Turkey-based gang leader Rawa M. aka the Kurdish Fox (Kurdiska räven) is registered, police have said. Officers were quick in arresting two suspects for this bomb attack that killed the woman.
For Sweden, somebody killed in a bomb attack in a residential area is another sad border in the current wave of gang violence has been crossed. Every week there are some explosions set off in residential areas all over the southern half of the country, but most of the time it leads to only physical damage.
Apart from the bombing in Uppsala, two shootings took place in the Stockholm area. One man was killed and one wounded in Jordbro, south of the capital. Both victims are reportedly 18 years old. A car drove right into the house after the shooting took place, severely damaging it. Police have arrested six people in connection to this shooting.
Earlier during the night of Wednesday to Thursday a first teenage boy – one of several young rappers linked to organised crime – was shot and killed at the Mälarhöjden’s sports fields in southern Stockholm. For this shooting no one has been arrested or publicly named suspect yet.
Military support for Swedish police discussed
According to several, normally well-informed media the Swedish government is discussing involving the country’s military in helping the police fighting the wave of violence. As far as the little information on this can be trusted, the government is not considering deploying troops on the streets yet, but rather wants to deploy military experts. Those should help analyse and predict were the next bombings could take place, is one theory. The Social-Democrats, the biggest opposition party in Sweden, is openly advocating for the country’s army to logistically support the police and is open to discuss armed military patrols, according to Magdalena Andersson quoted by the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.
Another man shot on 26 September
The previous notorious record in Swedish gang violence was reached on 17 September, on which you could already read on Nordicreporter.com (click here to read this story 8 killed in 10 days, Swedish government in crisis meeting ). As recent as 26 September a 60-year-old man was shot outside a villa in Stockholm suburb Åkersberga. Also this attempted killing was connected to the ongoing internal conflict of the Foxtrot network.
Bombings in Linköping and Stockholm earlier this week
On the same day an apartment in the Ekholmen neighbourhood of Linköping was blown out by a bomb, wounding a 25-year-old woman. On Monday another bomb explosion damaged a building in Stockholm suburb Hässelby Strand, after which three people were brought to hospital and almost 30 people were evacuated.
Foxtrot expanding to Norway
Norway fears the Swedish Foxtrot network or their splinter groups is also establishing themselves there. The fear is fed by a recent kidnapping in Trondheim of the son of a known Norwegian artist, for which ransom was demanded. Twelve people are suspect in this case, and the link to the Foxtrot network was made by criminal journalists of both newspapers of Adresseavisen and Aftonbladet. Norway’s The National Criminal Investigation Service, Kripos, has confirmed to national broadcasting company NRK that the Foxtrot network is active in the country. | © 2023 Marcel Burger, nordicreporter.com, text and photo