The Swedish government has announced that 60 people have been shot dead in the country this year. Sweden has seen a wide spate of shootings in recent years, which police and authorities have blamed on criminal gangs operating in cities such as the capital, Stockholm.
A local Arabic daily quoting Reuters said, according to Justice Minister Gunnar Stromer.”Deadly armed violence has increased and unfortunately set a new bloody record this year,”
Stromer added that the 60 deaths in shootings in Sweden this year were matched by four deaths in Norway, four in Denmark and two in Finland.
He added that the deaths are a small part of the violence and organized crime that has taken root in parts of society.
Last year, 45 people were shot dead in Sweden. In 2012, the total was 17, according to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention.
Strummer said the government would now set up a council within the Ministry of Justice to coordinate the fight against gang crime, and “a decent society cannot accept that someone is shot every week…on the side of the road.”
According to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, Sweden has gone from one of the countries with the lowest incidence of gang violence to one of the most over the past 20 years.