An analyst at Sweden’s National Bomb Guard has claimed that the growing explosion and bombing phenomenon in the country is not matched by any other industrialised nation.
Analyst Ylva Ehrlin said that between January and October, the southern region of Sweden had seen 71 separate explosions, more than double the number from the previous year’s 34 incidents, Swedish broadcaster SVT reports.
“We have ten million people in Sweden, but I have not found any equivalent of this level of explosions in any industrialised country,” Ehrlin told the broadcaster.
“What is dangerous is that the user of the explosives probably does not possess the knowledge of how dangerous they are and how sensitive the substances are,” she added.
The comments come in the wake of the latest explosion to rock the country in the city of Helsingborg during the early hours of Thursday morning.
Police say that two explosions occurred, with police officer Henrik Hagström stating: “At 3:30 am we received several calls about a strong detonation in Helsingborg, and shortly thereafter we received calls about another explosion. We have confirmed explosions in two locations outdoors at two properties.”
No one was injured in the explosions, but damages to the two buildings did occur with windows being blasted out and broken. Investigators say that they do not currently believe the two incidents are linked.
Helsingborg was also the location for one of the worst explosions in recent years when a police station in the city was attacked in 2017.
The resulting explosion caused widespread damage to the facade of the police station and attracted national attention. Prime Minister Stefan Löfven stated at the time: “The bombing of a police station in Helsingborg is extremely serious. An attack on the police is, in the long run, an attack on our democracy.”
Across Sweden, bombings and explosions have seen a significant increase. A report released in August by newspaper Dagens Nyheter claiming that the number had increased by 45 per cent nationally from the same period in 2018.