The Swedish government received information from Iraqi security officials that seven to eight ISIS terrorist have entered Sweden and are preparing a terrorist attack against civilians. According to the Iraqi security services this new terrorist cell will most likely strike in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. The terrorists might have entered the country among the many refugees.
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| 3.000 to 5.000 ISIS fighters are reported to have returned to Europe in order to conduct terrorist attacks |
The Swedish security service (Säkerhetspolisen) does not confirm the reports but they are working on analysing the intelligence they received. Should the information be correct then this would mark the first time that ISIS terrorist cells are operating in the Baltic Region. In a statement that the Swedish security service makes it was reported that such intelligence reports concerning Islamic terrorism are not new but that in this case that action has to be taken. Among the action taken was the visit by security officials to Iraq on Monday 25 April in order to obtain more information of their Iraqi counterparts.
The terrorist threat should be taken seriously in light of the ISIS terrorist attacks in Paris on 13 November and in Brussels on 22 March. Both these nations have large Muslim populations in their societies with a large amount of radicalised young Muslims. The same conditions exist in Sweden and they can be exploited by ISIS terrorist in order to blend in and prepare their attacks.
It is also important to note that Sweden already had 300 radicalised Muslims leaving the country in order to fight for ISIS. With 300 fighters Sweden now ranks as the second largest European contributor for foreign fighters for ISIS. Only Belgium ranks higher.
Local media in Sweden are currently speculating about this new threat posed by ISIS terrorist and point out that a possible terrorist attack might occur on 30 April. On this day Sweden will mark the 70th birthday of its King Carl XVI Gustaf. This event will bring together the Swedish royal family, important government officials, EU royal visitors as well as a large crowd of spectators and might thus be an ideal target.
