The year kicked off violently in Sweden with 11 explosions and another 25 explosive artefacts secured before detonation in just 15 days, according to Swedish police.
Stockholm is particularly at risk of these attacks, as in recent days, 3 neighbourhoods of the capital have been rocked by big explosions, and another two in Haninge and Uppsala, which happened literally moments apart.
Police believe that the bombings are broadly being carried out with two different motives: partly provoked by conflicts between rival criminal gangs, but more recently, also about a more financially driven crime – the extortion of both individuals and companies.
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Businesses and private individuals have been told that they need to think about how to make themselves less vulnerable to these attacks, as the trend in homemade explosives moves from being a fashion to an epidemic throughout Sweden.
Stockholm Police Commissioner Johan Rydwik says that individuals need to check who they are getting involved with and to have no fear of calling the police if they feel vulnerable from the threat from any group capable of this kind of attack.
Bomb attacks in Sweden have become such an everyday occurrence, news outlets barely cover all of them anymore.
Criminal gangs are now running riot and are openly promising on social media platforms to escalate bombings in 2025, according to an investigation by P4 Stockholm, a Swedish radio program. Using social media, the gangs blatantly recruit new members, enjoying a far broader reach.