List of grenade attacks in Sweden: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 08:51, 2 July 2024

This crime's category is very new in Sweden and was not even logged before 2017.^[1] Bombings increased significantly in 2015, with Swedish police investigating around 100–150 explosions.^[2]^[3]^[4] There were over 30 explosions reported in the Swedish city of Malmö alone by August 2015,^[5] up from a total of 25 in all of 2014.^[6] Malmö police have consequently warned about undetonated grenades in the city.^[7]^[8] By 2019, there were more than 100 explosions in Sweden.^[9]

Many such attacks are related to organised crime and extortion of restaurants and businesses.^[10] Far-right political activists spreading anti-immigrant sentiments have attributed the rise in grenade attacks and crime with the migrant crisis, a claim that has been disputed.^[11]^[12]^[13] Paulina Neuding of The Spectator wrote that Swedish officials have failed to effectively address the problem: "it's still hard for Swedish authorities to be frank about what's going on. It's widely known that gang members are mainly first- and second-generation immigrants."^[14]

In Malmö the grenades are frequently old weapons from the wars in the Balkans. The police assume that someone imported a large cache of grenades, which has then been distributed to criminal gangs.^[16]^[3] In addition to grenade attacks, there are a significant number of related bomb attacks with improvised explosive devices, including homemade bombs.^[17]^[18] The number of incidents involving explosives tripled between 2008 and 2016.^[19] According to a December 2018 Swedish Television interview with researcher Amir Rostami, Sweden has a high number of hand grenade attacks compared to neighbouring countries Denmark, Norway, and Germany. According to the Swedish police the reason may be the light sentence for possession compared to a firearm and that the evidence destroys itself when used.^[20] While gun homicides were on the rise in the 2011–2018 time span, according to a study at Malmö University, the number of hand grenade attacks had shown a strong increase in the same period and a total of 116 hand grenade detonations were recorded. Rostami said criminologists in Sweden don't know why there was a strong increase and why Sweden has a much higher rate than countries close by.^[15] Statistics are hard to come by as the only country apart from Sweden that publishes statistics is Mexico.^[20]

The hand grenades found by the police are exclusively the ex-Yugoslavian M75 hand grenade.^[21]

While Swedish media sometimes are accused of not covering the topic enough, a 2019 study by polling company Kantar Sifo found that law and order was the most covered news topic on Swedish TV and radio and on social media.^[1]

List of noted attacks

1993

2002–2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Responses

Along with a number of shootings, the summer of 2015 was dubbed "the summer of unrest" by Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, who during a speech said the attacks would "not be tolerated".^[96] Some hundred new police officers were set to be appointed in Malmö in the following months, after concerns were raised by the regional police union.^[97] Police began work the same summer of attempting to thwart "mass hysteria" among terrified Malmö residents.^[98]

In 2017 the Swedish government proposed harsher punishments for possession of grenades.^[99]

In 2018 the Swedish government proposed a three-month "grenade amnesty" to be held from October 2018 to January 2019.^[100]

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