During the weekend, al-Qaeda called for terrorist attacks in Sweden.
That does not surprise Säpo and it is still close to an increase on the terror threat scale.
– Within the framework of a third, it is possible that an attack could happen, says Fredrik Hultgren-Friberg, press spokesperson at Säpo.
It was via a statement in its official media channel that al-Qaeda published the threats. They write that “Denmark and Sweden are two small, despicable countries”, and call on Muslims to commit “revenge” after the recent Koran burnings. According to Säpo, it is in line with the development they saw during the summer.
– It is within the scope of what we have been talking about for a long time. We see an increased focus on Sweden from violent Islamism linked to the demonstrations, says Fredrik Hultgren-Friberg, press spokesperson at Säpo.
Close to a four
For a long time, Sweden has been ranked third on a five-point scale for terrorist threats. Säpo head Charlotte von Essen has not made any decision to raise the terror threat level as a result of the summer’s developments, even though we are close to a four.
A four had meant “high threat” for terrorist attacks to take place. In the current situation, the assessment is that there are actors with both the intention and the ability to carry out attacks.
– The threat is heightened for an attack in Sweden. But within the framework of a third, it is possible that an attack could happen, says Hultgren-Friberg.
The Security Police does not want to go into what type of attack it could be.
– We find it very difficult to concretize what we see operationally. Then we give away what we know and we as a security service cannot do that.
Analyze multiple stages
Several other countries have a more operational scale, where the terror threat level jumps up and down more frequently, says Hultgren-Friberg.
The Swedish scale is a long-term and strategic assessment scale that authorities must be able to adapt their operations to.
– Exactly what is required to raise the level is not linked to specific events but more analyzes of several stages and analyzes of how things look going forward.