Sweden 2024

07/01/2024: Head of Säpo, Charlotte von Essen, has declared that the widespread depiction of Sweden as the spearhead of islamophobia within Muslim countries, has taken its toll on Sweden national security. As such, terrorist threat level is to remain "High" again. The one-year assessment study published by the National Centre for Terrorist Threat Assessment (NCT) has supported those assertions and lone wolf actors seeking revenge for any sign of disrespect towards Islam may take violent action. Moreover, the terrorist threat is enhanced by the fact that Islamism and Far-Right extremism feed on each other and may jointly undermine Sweden security. (Source

17/01/2024: Swedish Government designed the new "National strategy against violent extremism and terrorism". This updated plan is focused on four strategic areas: Prevent violent extremism and terrorism; Avert terrorist attacks and other ideologically motivated crimes; Protect people and functions in society; Manage the situation during and after an attack. It is worth noting that Swedish authorities have adopted a new approach since previous distinct National strategies against terrorism and violent extremism are now merged into a new comprehensive one. Four agencies are tasked by the Government to implement the strategy in their respective framework: Säpo, the Swedish Police, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency and the Swedish Centre for Preventing Violent Extremism. Each agency will be monitored on a regular basis by submitting reports to the Government in the next two years. (Source)

31/01/2024: Israeli embassy in Stockholm denounced an assault attempt on its building with a grenade that was thrown over the fence of the embassy. The weapon was ultimately neutralized by a demining team. (Source: Défense et sécurité internationale ; Contre-terrorisme du 16/12/23 au 15/02/24 ; 170 ; 2024 ; pp.12-13)

13/02/2024: The National Center for Terrorist Threat Assessment has published the new Assessment of the terrorist threat in 2024. The conclusions of the report mainly stick to the statements that were made by Head of Säpo, Charlotte von Essen, in January 2024 and to the data previously collected in 2023. In this regard, terrorism threat is Sweden is maintained at level "High". Uncertainty factors have become greater and main threats of terrorist attacks mostly emanate from Islamist and Far-Right actors exalted by the current context of crisis and escalation in the Middle-East which had a spillover effect on European countries, especially on Sweden since this country was explicitly targeted by Islamists as an "enemy of Islam". (Source)

07/03/2024: Swedish police have arrested four individuals suspected of planning an Islamist attack in Tyresö. The suspects are believed to be linked to IS. (Source)

On March 16, the culprit of the operation was arrested in Spain. He was a 18-year-old affiliated to IS who distributed manuals to the terrorist cell in Sweden to instruct them about carrying the attack. (Source)

14/03/2024: Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom declared that Sweden will not take any action to repatriate Nationals who left Sweden to settle in IS-controlled territory back in the 2010's during the days of the so-called Caliphate. 300 Swedes joined IS yet the bulk either returned to Sweden or died on the battlefield, leaving around only twenty of their own who are still detained in the dreadful al-Hol and al-Roj camps in Northeastern Syria. According to Billstrom, they have rejected every opportunity offered to them by Swedish authorities to return to Sweden. As for the five Swedish children remaining there, Billstrom merely stated that their fate lies in their parent's hands who, not only took them along in the first place, but also denied them any possibility to return. (Source)

19/03/2024: Two Afghan individuals, identified as Ibrahim M.G. and Ramin N., were arrested in Thuringia in Germany while planning to commit an attack in Sweden in retaliation for the burning of the Quran. They have been members of IS since at least 2023 and had already caught the attention of authorities by organizing donation drives in Germany, with the participation of Ramin N., for around 2,000 euros. The funds were to be paid to IS members detained in northern Syria. (Source)

22/04/2024: A coordinated operation under the leadership of Europol Operational Task Force Flow II mobilized Finnish (Rajavartiolaitos) and Swedish (Polismyndigheten) security apparatuses to dismantle a criminal network smuggling mainly Syrian and Iraqi migrants transiting through Russia and Belarus to Europe in return for finance, i.e. around 3000-5000 euros including a portion in cryptocurrency. In total, 21 people were arrested, including 4 in Finland in 10 different local areas. Vehicles, gold, drugs jewelry and counterfeit cigarettes were seized by authorities along with 80,000 euros in cash. Part of the revenue generated by this network was intended to finance terrorist activities. The operation also took place in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and the Baltic countries. (Source)

23/04/2024: A man who fought in Syria in 2012 and reportedly appreared in propaganda clips, was  charged with terrorist financing by the Södertörn District Court. According to the indictment, the suspect allegedly has collected and received approximately SEK 40,000 from Swishbetalningar and then transferred the funds through eleven cryptocurrency transactions to recipient addresses controlled by individuals and organizations linked to terrorism in Syria. One of the terrorist organizations involved in those traffics is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham operating from Idlib which previously broke from free Al-Qaeda tutelage. (Source)

He claimed that those transfers were for charity purposes but was sentenced to one year in prison on November 27, 2024 for violating the Act on Punishment for Financing Particularly Serious Crime. (Source)

17/05/2024: Swedish authorities carried out protective measures towards the local Jewish community's interests and the Israeli embassy after shots were heard near the diplomatic building. The surrounding area was sealed off and searches are ongoing. Antisemitism skyrocketted in Sweden as well in the Nordics since October 2023 and special attention is paid by authorities to the safety of Jewish citizens. (Source)

08/07/2024: In response to the deterioriating security situation in Sweden, the Government has designed a new National Security Strategy in compliance with the engagement made by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Minister for Energy, Business and Industry Ebba Busch, Minister for Employment and Integration Johan Pehrson and Minister for Justice Gunnar Strömmer back in January 22, 2024. Considering that threats against Sweden are broadening, the authorities approach is now adapted to a new comprehensive national strategy merging the former distinct strategies respectively designed against violent extremism and terrorism. This new strategy was shaped as the main framework for the Government’s work on National Security until 2030 in compliance with five guiding principles: urgency and pragmatism, capacity to act and make decisions, robustness and adaptability, involvement of the whole of society, international cooperation. (Source)

02/10/2024: After an attempted grenade attack back in January 2024 and previous shoots in Mid-May 2024, Israeli embassy in Stochkhom was shot at during the evening as tensions in the Middle East are dangerously escalating. Although there is no evidence of a coordinated operation, blasts were reported near the Israeli embassy in Copenaghen and three Swedes suspects were arrested therafter. It was implied by Säpo that Iran is the culprit of those attacks by allegedly recruiting members of Swedish criminal gangs notably the so-called "Foxtrot network" to commit “acts of violence”. Iran denied those accusations. (Source)

04/10/2024: Imam Sami Al-Tameemi has praised Hassan Nasrallah, defunct leader of the terrorist-branded Hezbollah organization, at the Lebanese cultural association in Malmö during his Friday prayer in front of about a hundred visitors as it was later revealed by Swedish media SVT. Upon questioning, the imam claimed hat he did not know that Hezbollah was classified as a terrorist. Middle East expert at Linnaeus University Anders Persson believes that the celebration of the dead Hezbollah leader is problematic as "above all, it is a glorification of terror". (Source)

07/10/2024: The trial of Swedish Jihadist returnee Lina Laina Ishaq who is now facing charges of war crimes for allegedly torturing Yazidi women and children in Syria started and is supposed to last two months behind closed doors. Ishaq allegedly committed the crimes from August 2014 to December 2016, in the city of Raqqa where she once lived during the so-called Caliphate years. According to the Stockholm District Court, Ishaq is suspected of holding nine people, including children, in her Raqqa home for up to seven months and treating them as slaves. She also abused several of those she held captive and had molested a baby, said to have been 1 month old at the time, by holding a hand over the child's mouth when he screamed to silence him. She is also suspected of having sold people to IS knowing they risked being killed or subjected to serious sexual abuse. Once again, Ishaq utterly denies all the wrongdoings she is accused of. This is the first time an individual is tried in Sweden for crimes committed against Yazidis. (Source)

27/11/2024: A Syrian man in his 30's living in Stockholm was sentenced by the Södertörn District Court the to one year in prison for violating the Act on Punishment for Financing Particularly Serious Crime between October 5, 2019 and November 3, 2020. According to the prosecution, the man financed terrorist activities in Syria carried out by Al-Qaeda and Hayat Tharir al-Sham with a total of eleven cryptocurrency transactions, worth just over 40,000 kronor. Those transactions have formed part of "a well-organized, international and systematically structured financing system". The man also spent time in Syria in 2012 with the intention of joining a violent Islamist fighting group. He acted as a soldier there and carried weapons. The man has also helped people in Sweden transfer money to fighters in Syria and has appeared in propaganda. The man was indicted on April 23, 2024 but denied any wrongdoings, claiming instead that he sent the funds to assist "poor families". However, this explanation failed to convince the Court and was rather deemed to be a lie. The defendant has previously been convicted of another crime. The crime for which the defendant is now convicted was committed before the previous conviction and therefore constitutes a so-called newly discovered crime. Taking this into account, the District Court has determined the sentence to one year in prison. (Source)

02/12/2024: Swedish prosecutors announced that the four men arrested in March and April 2024 for suspected ties to the terrorist group IS have been charged with preparing terrorist acts, including against Jewish interests. The trio, along with a fourth suspect, were also charged with membership in IS, which is classified as a terrorist organisation in Sweden, and aggravated weapons offences. Among the four accused are two brothers aged 23 and 25, who converted to Islam shortly before their arrest. The elder had received instructions from IS in Somalia to "kill as many infidels as possible, with the primary targets being Jews". The Swedish intelligence services had bugged the group and in these recordings the brothers say they were looking for minors under 18 "ready to die as martyrs" and who "would kill a lot", according to the indictment. They also discussed targets such as "the government, police, intelligence services, [and] synagogues, in order to cause the greatest possible harm to the government and society". Links were also established with an organised crime gang from Tyresö, a suburb of Stockholm, which had supplied the group with a firearm and an electric stun gun, according to Säpo. The four suspects deny  any responsibility and a fifth suspect was reportedly released in October. (Source)

17/12/2024: As the war in Middle East takes greater proportions with the weakening of Hamas and the increasing involvement of Hezbollah and Iran as well as the recent overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, a bunch of masked men stood at the entrance of the Palestinian embassy in Stockholm wearing around their foreheads the Palestinian Islamic Jihad symbol with the words "Jenin Brigades" in Arabic. They accused the Palestinian Authority of being "spies" and "traitors" and were not arrested by Swedish authorities despite the display of terror symbols which, stirred much concern in public opinion debates regarding Sweden deteriorating security. (Source)

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