A surge in gang violence during a brutal summer spells trouble for the ruling parties.

A person dressed all in black hurled a hand grenade into a shop in the crime-ridden suburb of Geneta in the Swedish city of on Södertälje on July 22. Several bystanders were injured and one woman in her 50s had to be airlifted to the hospital.

Only a day later, a man was shot and injured on a street nearby.

The spate of gang violence is all part of a brutal summer that spells trouble for Sweden’s government.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and his right-wing allies edged an election two years ago promising to end a decade of spiraling clashes between drug runners.

But the crime statistics make for chilling reading in a country of 10.5 million whose international image is one of a peaceful, successful nation with a competitive economy and strong welfare protections.

  • Dead_or_Alive@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Thanks for the first hand account. It sounds just like how crime in the US is sensationally portrayed. The reality is even in some of our worst cities like Chicago, violent crime is usually between criminals themselves and usually within a few neighborhoods that everyone else avoids. Your average middle class family in the suburbs isn’t really affected.