Violence erupted late on Saturday after the ‘Stram Kurs’ (Hard Attitude) movement led by Rasmus Paludan, known for his radical right-wing views, came together in the city of Malmö in the south of the country.
Vehicles in the city were set on fire and some protesters threw stones at the police.
In recent days, Sweden has witnessed a series of clashes between police and anti-Stram Kurs demonstrators.
It was reported that at least 16 police officers were injured and many police vehicles were destroyed in the counter demonstrations that broke out after the far-right group’s rallies in the suburbs of the capital Stockholm and the towns of Linköping and Norrköping.
Swedish national police chief Anders Thornberg stated that the demonstrators were indifferent to the lives of police officers and said, “We have seen violent riots before. But this is something else.”
Anger at the far-right group’s actions spread beyond Sweden’s borders, after the Koran was burned at a rally on Thursday and a repeat of the action was planned at other rallies.
Iraq’s foreign ministry summoned the Swedish chargé d’affaires to Baghdad on Sunday and warned that the incident could have “serious repercussions” on relations between Sweden and Muslim communities in general.
Paludan, who was sentenced to a month in prison in 2020 for many crimes, including racism in Denmark, tried to plan similar Qur’an burnings in France and Belgium, as well as in some other European countries.