Stockholm: Two powerful explosions ripped through dwellings in central Sweden overnight, injuring at least three people and damaging buildings, with bricks and window sections left spread outside.
Late on Monday, an explosion occurred in Hasselby, a suburb of the capital, Stockholm. In the early hours of Tuesday, a blast in Linkoping, some 175 kilometers (110 miles) to the southwest, ripped the facade off a three-story building, leaving debris strewn across a parking area.
It was not known whether the blasts were related to each other.
Swedish newspaper Expressen said on Tuesday that both explosions were connected to a feud between criminal gangs, a growing problem in Sweden with drive-by shootings and bombings. Two gangs one led by a Swedish-Turkish dual national who lives in Turkiye, the other by his former lieutenant are reportedly fighting over drugs and weapons.
So far this year, there have been 261 shootings, killing 36 people and injuring 73.
Police said that residents in the affected area in Linkoping were evacuated to a nearby sports facility. In Hasselby, three people were taken to a hospital. Their conditions were not known. No one was immediately arrested, police said.
Following the explosions, the Swedish government said it will hold a meeting to identify measures to fight the gang violence that can be quickly implemented.
Sweden’s ministers for justice and civil defense, Gunnar Strommer and Carl-Oskar Bohlin, will participate along with other authorities, including representatives of the Scandinavian country’s municipalities and regions.