Sweden’s immigration problems, and the social instability that has followed, are well documented. Over the past two decades, immigration levels have soared, with a notable spike in 2015 when it took in 163,000 refugees, mostly from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Since the turn of the century, the number of people in Sweden born abroad has doubled to two million, roughly a fifth of the population. In 2022, then-Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson blamed a lack of integration and the highest per capita immigration in Europe for rising violent gang crime, claiming that “segregation has been allowed to go so far that we have parallel societies in Sweden. We live in the same country but in completely different realities.”

In recent months, the Swedish Security Service (Säpo) has made a string of arrests as it works to dismantle an IS-S network in the municipality of Tyresö, south of the capital Stockholm. In March, four members of the network were arrested for “terrorist offences” and involvement in “violent Islamist extremism”. On 17 April, Säpo’s counter-terrorism investigation led the organisation to a 60-year-old imam with deep roots in the community who has led a mosque since 2000. The case continued to develop in late May when a 20-year-old known gang member and friend to one of the suspects arrested in March was raided in connection with a shooting at the Israeli embassy. During that time, it was also revealed that there has been a marked increase in people attempting to travel and join IS branches in Africa.

Sweden is emerging as the primary IS-S hub in Europe, and related incidents are on the rise. Notably, Abdul Qadir Mumin, the branch’s founder and one of its leaders lived in Sweden for several years, later relocating to the UK where he became a citizen. Mumin then fled to Somalia after MI5 started investigating his involvement in the radicalisation of young men. Michael Adebolajo, who went on to decapitate British soldier Lee Rigby at an army barracks in southeast London in 2013, attended the mosque at which Mumin gave sermons in the British capital.

With IS-S holding extended territorial control over mountainous regions in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region and its increased authority within the global Islamic State network, there is a real threat that it could use this as a staging area for external operations in the West. From here, it could direct, guide, and encourage its networks and followers in Sweden and beyond. Sweden will continue to be a European focal point for IS-S efforts as the group aims directly at the West.

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Lucas Webber is the co-founder and editor of Militant Wire

LucasADWebber

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