STOCKHOLM: A handful of cars were torched in Stockholm’s immigrant-dominated suburbs early yesterday but police said the situation had returned to normal after a week of riots and unrest.
“Now we’re back to normal. There was no rioting, and only a few torched cars, under 10,” Stockholm police spokesman Kjell Lindgren said.
There were no reports of unrest in other Swedish towns either.
More than 150 cars and dozens of buildings have been torched in the past week of nightly unrest, which began May 19 in the Stockholm suburb of Husby, where 80 percent of inhabitants are immigrants.
It was apparently triggered by the police shooting and killing of a 69-year-old resident who had wielded a machete in public.
Local activists said the shooting sparked anger among youths who claim to have suffered from police brutality and racism.
The unrest began to ease significantly on May 24, when police reinforcements were called in from other parts of the country.
AFP
