Three people died and one was wounded in violent attacks in Sweden during Wednesday evening and night.
First, an 18-year-old young man was shot in the parking lot of a sports field in the south of Stockholm. The shooting happened at seven in the evening, when several children and youth teams were practicing on the sports field.
– We heard shots and then everyone started running, said the coach who was there For Swedish television SVT.
Swedish police suspect that the shooting is connected to gang violence.
Later that evening, two men were shot in the suburb of Jordbro, south of Stockholm. A man in his early twenties died at the scene of the shooting. One of the victims was taken to hospital.
In the morning, there was an explosion in a villa area in Uppsala so violently that five houses were damaged.
A 25-year-old woman was rushed to the hospital from the explosion site. He died of his injuries during the night. Swedish television according to SVT the police suspect that the woman may have been a bystander victim of a gang attack. A person with connections to the Foxtrot criminal network is registered in the house next door.
In Sweden, 11 people have already died in shootings in September alone. It is more than ever during the Swedish police’s seven-year measurement history.
The Swedish media today called September a black month.
But the statistics for the whole year look gloomy.
There have been more than 260 shootings and more than 120 bombs exploded in Sweden this year.
Two gangs are fighting for power
According to the Swedish authorities, a large part of the shootings and explosions in 2023 are related to a territorial dispute between two criminal organizations operating in Sweden.
According to the Swedish police, behind the violence is a power struggle for the Swedish drug market between the Dalennavätrevet, which operates mainly in Stockholm, and the Foxtrot criminal organization founded in Uppsala.
Both organizations have spread over a wide area and want to increase their activities from before, if necessary at the expense of each other.
The 37-year-old “Kurdikettu” leading Foxtrot Rawa Majid and the 25-year-old who has become the leader of Dalennavätrevet in recent years, better known as “The Greek”. Mikael Tenezos, have both fled the charges brought against them abroad.
However, they are said to still manage the activities of the organizations from abroad.
The graphics below show how the numbers of shootings and explosions have developed in Sweden.
The drug leagues have clashed mostly in Stockholm, but there has also been violence in the areas of Uppsala and Sundsvall, for example, like last night.
According to the police, the conflict between the criminal organizations began to accelerate again at the end of last year, as the long-standing intermittent clashes have left both camps with a lot to be wetted by.
Over the course of the year, efforts have been made to level scores by committing numerous murders, attempted murders and explosions. Other gang members have mainly been the targets of the attacks, but according to the police, attacks have also been carried out against relatives of gang members.
There have also been bystander victims in the attacks.
Gang violence escalated even more in early September when warring gangs clashed in Turkey.
On the map below, you can see what kind of attacks related to gang crime have been carried out in Sweden in the last three weeks. Touch or click on the number and you will get more information about the individual attack and possible victims.
The civil war that broke out in Foxtrot behind the September violence
During the feud between Foxtrot and Dalennavätvet, relations between Foxtrot’s leadership have also become strained.
Newspaper Dagens Nyheterin according to the information, Majid’s harsh ways of operating have caused Foxtrot’s ranks to crack. Several leaders of Foxtrot and its allied organizations feel that Majid’s methods are ruthless and put the family members of Foxtrot members and its allies at risk.
Among other things, Majid is known to recruit minor children to commit serious violent crimes and to order attacks against the relatives and families of his enemies.
Disagreements have practically caused Foxtrot to split into two camps, where a 33-year-old man known as “Strawberry” has stood against “Kurdikettu”.
According to DN, Majid and his right-hand man “Mansika”, ie Ismail Abdon the gaps started to crack already in January, when people connected to Foxtrot robbed a local drug courier.
Also of SVT’s data according to the ongoing drug trial in Sweden, it has been found that Majid cheated his own drug couriers and stole drugs from another person inside Foxtrot, perhaps Abdo himself.
SVT also says that the police’s successful drug raids and drug seizures have driven Foxtrot into debt, which may have destabilized the criminal league from before, when paranoia and fraud among the organization’s leaders have increased.
Like Majid, Abdo has also fled the charges brought against him abroad.
According to the Swedish press, both Majid and Abdo are currently staying in Turkey, where Foxtrot’s internal power struggle reached its peak at the beginning of September.
The hatred of the gang bosses intensified in Istanbul
At the beginning of September, Rawa Majid’s subordinates reportedly kidnapped a woman belonging to Abdo’s entourage in Istanbul. Shortly after the kidnapping, Abdo learns that the woman has been abused.
Abdo decides to avenge the incident by ordering an attack on Majid’s entourage. On September 6, two people on a motorcycle approach men belonging to Majid’s inner circle, who are sitting in a cafe in the Maslak upscale area in Istanbul.
Surveillance camera footage shows the motorcycle passenger opening fire at the cafe before fleeing the scene.
According to SVT’s information, Majid’s entourage also fired shots at the attackers.
Turkey of Daily Sabah according to which the police later managed to identify and find the Swedish men who had left the scene. The police arrested five Swedish citizens between the ages of 22 and 31 on suspicion of firearms offences.
Later, the Turkish police found two illegal firearms, a large amount of ammunition, air rifles, handguns and many different drugs in the suspects’ vehicles and apartments. The men arrested in Istanbul are still in custody.
Mansika’s mother was shot
After the events in Turkey, the situation quickly got out of control in Sweden as well. On September 7, the police received an alert about a heart attack in a private apartment in Uppsala’s Gränby district.
When the ambulance arrived, the paramedics noticed that a 60-year-old woman had probably been shot through a window that was ajar.
The woman was transported to the hospital, but she later died from her injuries. Later that day, the police arrested the 15- and 19-year-olds on suspicion of murder.
The dead woman turned out to be the mother of “Mansika” or Ismail Abdo. According to the Swedish media, the attack was carried out on Majid’s order.
After the murder of Abdo’s mother, clashes related to Foxtrot’s internal dispute have been seen in Sweden dozens of songs. At least 32 serious incidents of violence have occurred by September 28, and 12 people have died in them.
The person representing the “Mansika” camp says For Expressenthat the revenge attacks will not end until the “fox” is dead or captured.
Ylen’s Uutispodcast examines how gang violence has almost turned into a civil war in Sweden. Listen to the episode below.