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Riots erupt in Sweden over Quran burning

Clashes have erupted in many Swedish cities for the fourth day, spurred by the alleged burning of a Quran by a far-right, anti-immigrant organisation.

Three persons were hurt, according to local media, when police fired warning bullets at rioters in Norrköping, Sweden, on Sunday.

At least 17 persons were arrested after several vehicles were set on fire.

During a far-right rally in the southern city of Malmo on Saturday, vehicles, including a bus, were set on fire.

The governments of Iran and Iraq had summoned Swedish envoys to express their displeasure over the burning.

Rasmus Paludan, the leader of the Danish-Swedish Stram Kurs, or Hard Line, movement, stated he had burnt Islam’s most precious document and would do so again.

On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, at least 16 police officers were reported hurt, and many police vehicles were reported wrecked amid unrest in areas where the far-right organisation planned demonstrations, including Stockholm suburbs and the cities of Linköping and Norrköping.

According to Deutsche Welle, Paludan had vowed to conduct another gathering in Norrköping on Sunday, leading counter-demonstrators to gather there.

In a statement, local police stated they fired warning bullets after being attacked, and three persons were presumably struck by ricochets.

Anders Thornberg, Sweden’s national police commander, said in a statement on Saturday that demonstrators had showed a lack of concern for police officers’ lives, adding: ‘We’ve seen violent riots in the past. This, on the other hand, is a unique situation.’

Protests in Sweden have previously turned violent in response to plans by Stram Kurs to burn the Quran. In confrontations in Malmö in 2020, demonstrators set cars on fire and damaged storefronts.

Paludan, who was sentenced to a month in prison in Denmark in 2020 for crimes involving bigotry, has also attempted to organise Quran burnings in other European nations, including France and Belgium.

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