Several improvised firebombs were allegedly thrown at a local social services office in the multicultural Swedish city of Malmö this week. Police so far have no suspects in the case.
No one was injured during the incident, which is being labelled an arson attack, but there was damage reported to the exterior of the social services building.
Police have been tight-lipped about any potential motive and have even gone as far as saying they did not want to confirm Swedish media reports that the damage to the building was caused by firebombs, newspaper Aftonbladet reports.
Katarina Rusin of the southern region police has called for any witnesses to the incident to come forward. While she did not confirm firebombs were used, she said: “There were a number of objects that were thrown.”
Over the last year, Malmö has seen many bombings, mostly with explosive material being used. The multicultural city saw three bombings within 24 hours last year in June.
The problem with explosions became so bad in the city that police issued a statement in September 2019 telling the public to watch out for potential explosive devices.
“We want to alert people to be a little more cautious. If you see something strange, a bag or a package… A bomb can look like anything,” Police officer Göran Holmgren said.
Two residents of Malmö took the bombing trend international last year when they were arrested after the bombing of a tax office in Copenhagen in neighbouring Denmark. The two men, aged 23 and 24, were convicted earlier this month and sentenced to four and five years respectively for the attack on the government office.
Prosecutors in the case had argued that the pair should face charges under Danish terrorism laws; but despite efforts, neither was convicted on terror charges.