A total of 26 policemen and 14 others were injured in the riots and 20 vehicles were destroyed or damaged.

Sweden suspects that foreign countries have been involved in and encouraged violent riots in several cities recently when crowds threw stones and burned cars after a right-wing extremist Islamophobe announced plans to hold an anti-Muslim demonstration.

Rasmus Paludan, leader of the Danish right-wing extremist party Stram Kurs (Hard Line), has burned copies of the Koran at events in Denmark where he also rejects Islam, and the news spread that he wanted to do the same in Sweden, which aroused anger.

Paludan, who has both Danish and Swedish nationality, “seems for some reason to hate Sweden and try to harm Sweden. I do not understand why “, said the country’s Minister of Justice Morgan Johansson.

In an interview with Aftonbladet that was published on Wednesday, Johansson referred to allegations online that appeared earlier this year that Swedish social services authorities had kidnapped Muslim children.

The Foreign Ministry posted a Twitter thread in February dedicated to what it called “a disinformation campaign”.

“Middle Eastern actor”

A Swedish agency established to counter disinformation said that the kidnapping allegations can be traced to an Arabic-language site whose creators expressed support for the armed group ISIL (ISIS).

“We see how the image of Sweden is set by some of these actors in the Middle East,” quoted Aftonbladet Johansson. “It is also addressed by a couple of governments in Iraq and Iran.”

After the news of Paludan’s planned stunt reached Iran and the United Arab Emirates, the governments of Tehran and Dubai called in Swedish diplomats to protest.

A total of 26 police officers and 14 other people were injured in the riots and 20 police vehicles were destroyed or damaged, officials said. Many people were arrested.

The latest violence broke out on Sunday night in Malmö, Sweden’s third largest city, when an angry crowd of, above all, young people set fire to tires, rubbish and rubbish bins in an area known for high crime.

Riots and violent clashes have been reported in several other Swedish cities. Three people were injured in Norrköping on Sunday when they were hit by ricochets when the police fired warning shots.

Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson visited Norrköping and Linköping, another city that experienced riots, on Wednesday.

Protests against Stram Kurs’ plans to burn the Koran have previously been violent in Sweden. In 2020, protesters set fire to cars and shops were damaged in clashes in Malmö.

In the same year, Paludan was imprisoned in Denmark for a month for a number of crimes, including racism.