terrorism in Sweden

{{See|Left-wing terrorism|Nazism in Sweden|Palestinian political violence}}

The terrorism-related event in modern Swedish history which received the most attention was the West German embassy siege in 1975, which was carried out by the Red Army Faction. In 1976, the same group also planned Operation Leo which was to involve the kidnapping of Anna-Greta Leijon, but which was never set in action.

In 1986 Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was killed in an action of dubious motivations. Several different terrorist leads were considered, but none has been proved conclusive, and the police main lead was a lone madman.

At the end of the 1980s a neo-Nazi movement developed in Sweden. National Youth activist Klas Lund was convicted of bank robbery and of the murder of Ronny Landin in the summer of 1986. National Youth was linked to the Swedish Resistance Movement.{{Cite web|url=http://www.sakerhetspolisen.se/ovrigt/sidan-kunde-inte-hittas-404.html|title=Sidan kunde inte hittas (404) – Säkerhetspolisen|website=www.sakerhetspolisen.se}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.expo.se/index_1.php?pg=http%3A//www.expo.se/www/inf_1_7.html|title=Expo: Sv. Motståndsrörelsen/Nationell Ungdom}}{{Dead link|date=July 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} In 1988, the Nordic National Party formed a new network named VAM (The White Aryan Resistance), in which Lund was also involved; it became well known for a series of burglaries and robberies including one where they broke into a Lidingö police station and stole 36 guns. At the same time far right activist John Ausonius engaged in a shooting spree targeting immigrants. He was not involved in the neo-Nazi movement, but the concurrence of the events garnered press exposure. VAM no longer exists as a movement, but there are numerous organizations rooted in it, including the Swedish Resistance Movement (SMR) led by Klas Lund and the Party of the Swedes (SVP).{{cite web |url=http://www.den-svenske.com/2008-11-25-folkfronten_slog_upp_portarna.html |title=at |publisher=Den-svenske.com |date=25 November 2008 |access-date=2011-07-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090623055627/http://www.den-svenske.com/2008-11-25-folkfronten_slog_upp_portarna.html |archive-date=2009-06-23 }} In 1998, far right activist Hampus Hellekant murdered syndicalist union member Björn Söderberg after Söderberg campaigned against the Nazi activities of Info-14's Robert Vesterlund.{{cite news

| first = Lawrence K.

| last = Altman

| title = Swedes Ponder Whether Killer Can Be a Doctor

| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/science/25student.html

| newspaper = The New York Times

| date = 25 January 2008

| access-date = 29 March 2008

}} Info-14 claimed one police killing in Malexander (the perpetrators, including Jackie Arklöv had links to the National Socialist Front too) and a car bomb in Nacka in 1999, leading the paper's editor, Vesterlund, to be sentenced to eighteen months in prison for incitement to racial hatred, threats against an officer, and aggravated incitement.

Sweden-based Palestinian terrorists Abu Talb and Marten Imandi were convicted of perpetrating a series of bombings and attacks in 1985 and 1986, along with two co-conspirators who received lesser sentences. The attacks included the 1985 Copenhagen bombings of the Great Synagogue and Northwest Orient Airlines.{{Cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/12/25/one-year-after-flight-103-blast-trail-of-evidence-leads-to-sweden/|title=One Year After Flight 103 Blast, Trail Of Evidence Leads To Sweden|work=tribunedigital-chicagotribune|access-date=2018-04-09|language=en}}{{cite news |title=Pan Am Bombing Suspect Convicted in Other Attacks |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE1D61031F931A15751C1A96F948260 |publisher=Associated Press |date=22 December 1989}}{{cite news |first=Michael |last=Wines |title= Portrait of Pan Am Suspect: Affable Exile, Fiery Avenger |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE6DB123DF937A15751C1A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print |work=The New York Times |date=24 December 1989}}

{{See|Islam in Sweden|Nazism in Sweden|Bombings in Sweden}}

In the 2000s, the issue of terrorism financing and recruiting for terrorist groups, including Islamist groups, have also been on the security agenda. Criminal acts from domestic political extremist groups, both on the right and on the left, have also become an increasing phenomenon.

The Neo-nazi activist group Swedish Resistance Movement (SRM) was formed in 1997 and merged into the Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM) in 2016. The group has been behind several violent actions since a bomb and the murder of the journalist Björn Söderberg in 1999. In 2017, NRM members were arrested for involvement in two bombings and a bombing attempt in Gothenburg, near two refugee accommodations and a syndicalist organization.[http://www.expressen.se/gt/tre-nazister-har-haktats-for-bombdad-i-goteborg/ Three nazis were sentenced for the bombings in Gothenburg], Expressen 3 February 2017 (In Swedish) Legion Wasa is a neo-Nazi paramilitary{{cite news|title=Nazisterna vill hjälpa Saddam |url=http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/nyheter/story/0,2789,265312,00.html| publisher=Aftonbladet| date=18 February 2003| language=sv}}{{cite news|title=Han tränar för raskrig|url=http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/nyheter/story/0,2789,563826,00.html| publisher=Aftonbladet|date=20 November 2004|language=sv}} organisation founded in 1999,{{Cite news|title=Raggaren som blev ökänd nynazist|url=http://www.expressen.se/gt/raggaren-som-blev-okand-nynazist/|work=Expressen| date=7 June 2004| language=sv}} whose members have reportedly been preparing for race war, and once made preparations for helping out Saddam Hussein in the Iraq War against the invading United States Army.{{cite news|title=Svenskar söker visum till Irak |url=http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=119&a=119091 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030314074935/http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=119&a=119091 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2003-03-14 |publisher=Göteborgs-Posten |date=28 February 2003 |access-date=2007-09-08 |language=sv }} Led by Curt Linusson, a former UN soldier and Home Guard officer, the group has conducted field practice in the forests of Västergötland. The organisation is said to have between 25 and 30 members. In 2004 four members of the organisation were arrested, charged with plotting mass murders of political opponents, and of forming a terrorist cell inspired by the novel The Turner Diaries. All four were acquitted for terror charges, although three of the charged were convicted for violence and drug charges, with sentences ranging from one to two years imprisonment.{{Cite news|title=Friade för terroristbrott|url=http://expo.se/2005/friade-for-terroristbrott_1268.html|work=Expo|date=1 February 2005|language=sv}} The 2010s saw an upsurge in far right violence in Sweden.[http://sciencenordic.com/more-extreme-right-violence-sweden-and-finland More extreme right violence in Sweden and Finland], ScienceNordic 1 May 2014

{{See also|Islam in Sweden|Islamic terrorism in Europe}}

According to the Swedish Defence University, since the 1970s, a number of residents of Sweden have been implicated in providing logistical and financial support to or joining various foreign-based transnational Islamic militant groups. Among these organizations are Hezbollah, Hamas, the GIA, Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, Al-Shabaab, Ansar al-Sunna and Ansar al-Islam.

In the 2000s, Islamists in Sweden were not primarily seeking to commit attacks in Sweden, but were rather using Sweden as a base of operations against other countries and for providing logistical support for groups abroad.{{cite web|year=2009|title=EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report TE-SAT 2009|url=https://www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/publications/tesat2009_1.pdf|access-date=29 July 2015|publisher=Europol|page=21}}

In 2010, the Swedish Security Service estimated that a total of 200 individuals were involved in the Swedish Islamist extremist environment. According to the Swedish Defence University, most of these militants were affiliated with the Islamic State, with around 300 people traveling to Syria and Iraq to join the group and Al-Qaeda associated outfits like Jabhat al-nusra in the 2012–2017 period{{cite book|url=https://socialutveckling.goteborg.se/uploads/Swedish-Foreign-Fighters-webb.pdf|title=Swedish Foreign Fighters in Syria and Iraq|last1=Linus Gustafsson Magnus Ranstorp|date=2017|publisher=Swedish Defence University|pages=23–34, 13|access-date=12 November 2017}} and some have financed their activities with funds from the Swedish state welfare systems.{{Cite book|url=http://www.fi.se/globalassets/media/dokument/rapporter/2017/terrorismfinansiering-fi-cats-2017.pdf|title=Finansiella aktiviteter kopplade till personer från Sverige och Danmark som anslutit sig till terrorgrupper i Syrien och Irak mellan 2013 – 2016|last=M. Normark, M. Ranstorp & F. Ahlin|publisher=Swedish Defence University / Centrum för asymmetriska hot- och terrorismstudier (CATS)|year=2017|pages=1|quote=Nuvarande beteendemönster präglas framförallt av innovativ insamlingsverksamhet och utnyttjande av de statliga bidragssystemen|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908124509/http://www.fi.se/globalassets/media/dokument/rapporter/2017/terrorismfinansiering-fi-cats-2017.pdf|archive-date=8 September 2017}} In 2017, Swedish Security Service director Anders Thornberg stated that the number of violent Islamic extremists residing in Sweden to number was estimated to be "thousands".{{Cite news|url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/udland/sapo-tusindvis-af-voldelige-islamister-bor-i-sverige|title=Säpo: Tusindvis af voldelige islamister bor i Sverige|work=DR|access-date=2017-12-05|language=da}} The Danish Security and Intelligence Service judged the number of jihadists in Sweden to be a threat against Denmark since two terrorists arriving from Sweden had already been sentenced in the 2010 Copenhagen terror plot.{{Cite news|url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/pet-truslen-mod-danmark-kan-komme-fra-sverige|title=PET: Truslen mod Danmark kan komme fra Sverige|work=DR|access-date=2017-12-05|language=da}} Security expert Magnus Ranstorp has argued that efforts to improve anti-terror legislation has been hampered by human rights activists such as Ywonne Ruwaida, Mehmet Kaplan and the organisation Charta 2008. A change in the activism occurred in the 2013–2014 time frame due to the number of Swedish citizens travelling to join the Islamic State. He also stated that some of the loudest activists have withdrawn from public debate after being exposed for harassing women in the metoo campaign.{{Cite news|url=http://www.skd.se/2017/12/28/stark-lobby-och-fa-dad-i-sverige/|title=Stark lobby och få dåd i Sverige|date=28 December 2017|work=Skånska Dagbladet|access-date=2017-12-28|language=sv-SE}}

The issue has also led to problematic relationship between Sweden and Turkey in the context of Swedish decision to join NATO in 2022, a request that has been delayed by Turkey due to Turkish view that Sweden is not doing enough to prevent organizations Turkey sees as terrorist from operating in Sweden (see Swedish anti-terrorism bill (2023)).{{cite web |last=Wintour |first=Patrick |date=14 June 2022 |title=Turkey threatens year's delay to Swedish and Finnish entry to Nato |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/14/turkey-threatens-years-delay-to-swedish-and-finnish-entry-to-nato |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220618201433/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/14/turkey-threatens-years-delay-to-swedish-and-finnish-entry-to-nato |archive-date=18 June 2022 |accessdate=2022-06-18 |work=The Guardian}}{{cite web |date=13 May 2022 |title=Erdogan says Turkey not supportive of Finland, Sweden joining NATO |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/erdogan-says-turkey-not-positive-finland-sweden-joining-nato-2022-05-13/ |website=reuters}}{{Cite web |last=SCF |date=2 February 2023 |title=Sweden proposes tougher anti-terror laws in response to Turkey's demands |url=https://stockholmcf.org/sweden-proposes-tougher-anti-terror-laws-in-response-to-turkeys-demands/ |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=Stockholm Center for Freedom |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |title=Analysis {{!}} Why Turkey Is Still Blocking Sweden From Joining NATO |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/03/31/why-turkey-is-still-blocking-sweden-s-nato-accession/f7ceb8ec-cfac-11ed-8907-156f0390d081_story.html |access-date=2023-04-09 |issn=0190-8286}}

• 2014 mosque arson attacks in Sweden
• Malmö mosque arson attack
• Malmö synagogue arson attack
• Oussama Kassir
• Mehdi Ghezali
• Mohamed Moumou
• Antisemitism in Sweden
• Terrorism in Europe
• Islamic terrorism in Europe
• List of terrorist incidents
• Terrorism in the United States
• Hindu terrorism
• Left-wing terrorism
• Right-wing terrorism

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Category:Human rights abuses in Sweden