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US Embassy warns US expats in Sweden over terror threat
| Published: | 27 Apr at 6 PM |
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A warning from the US Embassy has advised American expats in Sweden to avoid crowded places at all costs.
The warning was issued in response to a report of suspected terror threats to the country by a group of insurgents said to have entered Sweden as immigrants in 2015. According to a senior source in the Iraqi security service, intelligence about an ISIS plot targeting Stockholm included details of an eight-man gang of former al-Qaeda members.
The militants have been identified as Iraqis who arrived as part of a rush of thousands of migrants over the past eighteen months or so. Details of the individuals thought to be involved have been sent to Swedish security services by Iraqi intelligence and are now being investigated as to the likelihood of an imminent terror attack.
A report by Reuters cites another source within Iraqi security, claiming that six Iraqi citizens entered Sweden by way of Turkey, arriving in the country in 2015. The six are suspected of planning special operations in Stockholm in order to force Sweden to leave the international military coalition at present attacking ISIS. However, sources at the Iraqi interior ministry are unable to confirm the information.
The US Embassy in Stockholm’s warning to its expat citizens advises alertness when in public places and when using mass transport. Caution should be increased during large public events and festivals and during religious festivals. Crowded places should be avoided as much as is possible.
This week, Stockholm will host celebrations to honour the birthday of King Carl XV1Gustaf, and is also hosting the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in May. As a result, meetings emphasising security risks and needs have been held between Swedish police and the organisers of the events. Earlier this year, the country lowered its terror threat level from a high point just after the Paris attacks, and may well be planning to raise it again.
The warning was issued in response to a report of suspected terror threats to the country by a group of insurgents said to have entered Sweden as immigrants in 2015. According to a senior source in the Iraqi security service, intelligence about an ISIS plot targeting Stockholm included details of an eight-man gang of former al-Qaeda members.
The militants have been identified as Iraqis who arrived as part of a rush of thousands of migrants over the past eighteen months or so. Details of the individuals thought to be involved have been sent to Swedish security services by Iraqi intelligence and are now being investigated as to the likelihood of an imminent terror attack.
A report by Reuters cites another source within Iraqi security, claiming that six Iraqi citizens entered Sweden by way of Turkey, arriving in the country in 2015. The six are suspected of planning special operations in Stockholm in order to force Sweden to leave the international military coalition at present attacking ISIS. However, sources at the Iraqi interior ministry are unable to confirm the information.
The US Embassy in Stockholm’s warning to its expat citizens advises alertness when in public places and when using mass transport. Caution should be increased during large public events and festivals and during religious festivals. Crowded places should be avoided as much as is possible.
This week, Stockholm will host celebrations to honour the birthday of King Carl XV1Gustaf, and is also hosting the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in May. As a result, meetings emphasising security risks and needs have been held between Swedish police and the organisers of the events. Earlier this year, the country lowered its terror threat level from a high point just after the Paris attacks, and may well be planning to raise it again.
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