Sweden raises terror alert level after Koran burning

STOCKHOLM, Aug 17 (Reuters) – Sweden’s national security service raised its terror alert to the second-highest level on Thursday, warning that the threat of attack could linger long after the burnings and other acts. against the Qur’an outraged Muslims.

Denmark and Sweden have tight border checks fearing revenge attacks after anti-Islamic activists damaged several copies of the Muslim holy book in recent months.

There has been widespread condemnation from many parts of the Muslim world, with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging severe punishment for those responsible and saying that Sweden was in battle mode against the Muslim world.

Sweden’s SAPO security service raised the warning level from 3 to 4 on a scale of 1 to 5, reflecting a “major threat”.

“Sweden has gone from being considered a legitimate target for terrorist attacks to being considered a priority target,” SAPO director Charlotte von Essen told a news conference.

He said the threat of attack posed by “violent Islamist actors” has increased in the past year, but the increased alert level was not due to any knowledge of a specific plan.

“The increase in the terrorist threat level is being done to raise awareness that the threat we see will be around for a while and society needs to build up its resilience to deal with it,” von Essen said.

MILITARY ALERT

The Swedish armed forces also said they were raising the terror threat level for operations.

Great Britain and the United States have warned citizens not to go to Sweden due to possible terrorist attacks amidst protests there and in neighboring Denmark about the burning of the Koran.

Sweden and Denmark are among the most liberal countries in the world and have long allowed scathing criticism of religions.

But many Muslims view the desecration of the Qur’an, which they consider to be the literal word of God, as a serious offense deserving of severe punishment.

Sweden’s biggest terror attack in recent history occurred in 2017, when an Uzbek immigrant who had sworn allegiance to Islamic State plowed into pedestrians on a busy Stockholm street with a truck, killing five people.

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