Several dozen hurt in days of unrest in Sweden

Several days of unrest in Sweden, sparked by a far-right group’s plans to burn Korans, have injured several dozen people, police said on Monday, calling for more resources to deal with the violence.

Protests have turned violent in several cities since Thursday, leaving 26 police officers and 14 civilians injured, police said at a press conference on Monday.

The unrest has been sparked by the leader of the anti-immigration and anti-Islam group Hard Line, the Danish-Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan who is aiming to drum up support ahead of September elections.

Paludan- who intends to stand in the September poll but does not yet have the necessary signatures to secure his candidacy- has gone on a declared “tour” of Sweden, visiting cities and towns with large Muslim populations with the intent of burning copies of the Muslim holy book Koran as the faithful mark the holy month of Ramadan.

Clashes with police have erupted during protests against the group since Thursday evening, starting in the cities Linkoping and Norrkoping.

They spread to the city of Malmo, where a school was set alight during a second night of unrest Saturday-Sunday.

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‘Too few of us’

“Criminals have profited from the situation to show violence toward society, without any link to the demonstrations,” national police chief Anders Thornberg said at a press conference on Monday.

“There are too few of us. We have grown, but we have not grown at the same pace as the problems at the heart of society,” he said, asking for more resources for the police.

As protesters burned cars and lobbed rocks at the police in Sunday clashes, officers responded, head of police special forces Jonas Hysing said.

“Some 200 participants were violent and the police had to respond with arms in legitimate self-defence,” he said.

Police had earlier said officers wounded three people after firing warning shots during Sunday’s “riot”.

Eight people were arrested in the city of Norrkoping and 18 people were detained in the neighbouring city of Linkoping, because of the violence.

On Sunday, clashes erupted in both cities for the second time in four days.

In the wake of the string of violent incidents, Iraq’s foreign ministry said on Sunday it had summoned the Swedish charge d’affaires in Baghdad.

It warned the affair could have “serious repercussions” on “relations between Sweden and Muslims in general, both Muslim and Arab countries and Muslim communities in Europe”. 

Saudi Arabia’s official news agency said the kingdom has “condemned the agitations of certain extremists in Sweden and their provocations against Muslims”.

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