A Fourth Night Of Riots Shakes Stockholm

DAGENS NYHETER (Sweden), SVENSKA DAGBLADET (Sweden), THE LOCAL (Sweden), THE FINANCIAL TIMES (US)

STOCKHOLM – The Swedish capital suffered through a fourth night of violence, with firefighters reporting at least 90 different incidents around the city by early Thursday.

The Financial Times’ correspondent in Stockholm reports that cars were set on fire in 15 locations around the city, a police station was attacked and a restaurant set on fire in the south of the capital.

“The fire brigade is having difficulties keeping up,” a police spokesman told the Svenska Dagbladet.

A 16-year-old girl was taken in by the police, bringing the total number of arrests to 12 over the past few days. “It is a form of guerrilla warfare,” Jörgen Ohlsson, a local chief of police, told Dagens Nyheter. The shooting of a machete-wielding 69-year-old man by the police last Monday is believed to be what triggered the spurt of violence, The Local reports.

In the northwestern borough of Husby, where the riots started on Sunday, the unrest started around 10 pm Wednesday, but tensions were calmed down by older residents who came onto the streets and talked to young rioters.

According to Awad Hersi, a Stockholm city councillor, “This is a wake-up call for decision makers and Swedish society as a whole,” the FT reports. The incidents are raising questions about integration and immigration policies.

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