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On 11 October 2016, a fire was deliberately set at the Shia Malmö Muslim community centre in Malmö, Sweden by a Sunni Mulim. There were no injuries and only minor damage. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. A Syrian resident of Malmo was arrested, tried and acquitted and the incident was deemed to be arson, but not terrorism. However, new evidence appeared in June 2017, when an "ISIS propagandist" employed by the Amaq News Agency and the Islamic State was arrested in Germany, accused of being in contact with the accused both in the weeks leading up to the arson attack and on the day after.

This is the first attack claimed by ISIS in Sweden; the second was the 2017 Stockholm attack.

Events

A 30-year-old Syrian man was arrested in December 2016, accused of throwing the fire bomb that set off the fire, causing damage to the building. At trial in April, 2017, the accused was acquitted of all charges and the fire was deemed to be arson, but not to be terrorism-related. Repairs to the Shia community building cost an estimated million Kroner ($113,000.00).

Prosecutors charged that the attack was a partisan attempt by a Sunnni Muslim loyal to ISIS to damage a Shia community center.

Following trial, suspect, who had been released by police, was taken into custody by Swedish Security Service (Säpo), according to the newspaper Sydsvenskan. Since April 2017 suspect had been under investication under Sweden's Act on Foreign Immigration Control by investigators who suspect him of having ties to Isis. If such ties are established, he will be liable to have his residence permit revoked and to deportation.

Suspect

Investigators had found a description of how to make a detonator on the accused man's computer, along with ISIS propaganda films showing Islamic State militants fighting and killing "infidels" and also the image of an Isis flag. Suspect claimed to have acted on instructions given by ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammed al-Adnani. He had stated that he wanted to die as a "martyr".

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant involvement

In October 2016, the ISIS magazine al-Naba claimed that the arson was committed by “a warrior from the caliphate,” who acted “on the instructions of the leader al-Adnani”, Isis spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, and described the arson fire as the Islamic State's first attack on Scandinavia. Swedish terrorism expert Magnus Ranstorp dismissed the ISIS claim, but terrorism expert Hans Brun of Kings College, London, noted that given the paucity of press coverage, the question was how the ISIS news agency "got access to this information”.

In June 2017, after the Swedish court had acquitted the suspect, German police arrested a A 23 year old Syrian man identified only as Mohammed G. German security investigatory describe Mohammed G. as an ISIS "contact person" in touch with "potential attackers from the terrorist group." Mohammad G. is confirmed to have been in contact with the suspect in the October Malmo arson attack by "mid-September at the latest." He demanded and received confirmation of the attack from the suspect the day after the arson attack took place. The Amaq News Agency immediately the arson fire as an attack by a “soldier of the Islamic State” targeting “infidels”. German police accused Mohammad G. of communicating with the alleged perpetrator of the Malmo arson attack on social media. According to the German prosecutor’s office, “One day after this attack, the accused demanded from his contact person (in Sweden) a personal claim of this deed..., The background was that Amaq did not want to issue a report about the attack without such a claim”.

Following the arrest of Mohammad G., Shiraz Maher, deputy director of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King’s College, London, said "We’ve all assumed that they are reading news reports, and then saying, ‘Our guy did this.’ But this is interesting because this does show that they clearly have someone, who is one of their guys, and who is getting verification and confirming that this attack was in our name”. Some investigators suspect that the wording used by Amaq in reporting this and and a specific group of attacks, "source to Amaq agency," which had been thought a mere point of style, may indicate that an attacker has been contact with with Isis propagandists before carrying out an attack.

According to Al Jazeera, this attack was one of series of attacks on Shia mosques worldwide, including an ISIS-inspired attack on a Shia mosque on the outskirts of Stockholm in May 2017.

Response

In a speech in February 2017, Donald Trump stated that the media was not reporting on terrorist attacks. Later that day, the Trump administration included this event in a list of 78 attacks which the admin said were "under-reported".

References

1. ^ "Trump says terror attacks 'under-reported': Is that true?". BBC. 7 February 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
2. Batchelor, Tim (1 May 2017). "Sweden's largest Shia mosque burned down in suspected arson attack". The Independent. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
3. ^ Kallimachi, Rukmini (8 June 2017). "Syrian Accused of Working for ISIS News Agency Is Arrested in Germany". New York Times. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
4. ^ "Malmö fire was not terrorism: court". The Local. 21 April 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
5. ^ Dearden, Lizzie (9 June 2017). "Isis propagandist who linked terrorists with Amaq 'news agency' arrested in Germany". The Independent. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
6. ^ Watkinson, William (9 June 2017). "Syrian Isis propagandist linked to Amaq news agency arrested in Germany, say police". International Business Times. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
7. ^ "Syrian Charged With Terror Over Arson Attack on Islamic Center in Sweden Last Year". Haaretz. 27 March 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
8. "Man arrested in Sweden on terrorism charges following mosque arson: SVT". Reuters. Swedish Television. 5 December 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
9. ^ Roden, Lee (7 February 2017). "Why Trump claimed minor Malmö fire was 'under-reported terror". The Local. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
10. ^ Lofgren, Emma (27 March 2017). "Malmö 'Isis member' accused of terrorism for fire at Islamic centre". The Local. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
11. ^ "Isis claims unremarked arson attack in Malmö". The Local. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
12. Stromme, Lizzie (21 October 2016). "Act of terror in Sweden? Desperate ISIS claim credit for arsonist attack amid Mosul defeat". Express (London). Retrieved 10 July 2017.
13. "Sweden Muslims express 'shock' over mosque fire". Al Jazeera. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
14. Naylor, Brian (6 February 2017). "White House List Contradicts Trump Claim That Terror Attacks Go Unreported". NPR. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
15. Phipps, Claire (7 February 2017). "The full list of Trump's 'under-reported' terror attacks – and how they were reported". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
16. Jacobson, Louis (Feb 6, 2017). "Donald Trump wrong that media is not reporting on terrorism any more". Politifact.
17. Noack, Rick (19 February 2017). "Sweden has no idea what Trump meant when he said, 'You look at what's happening … in Sweden'". Washington Post. Retrieved 9 June 2017.

• 2016 crimes in Sweden
• Attacks on buildings and structures
• Violence against Muslims
• Arson in Sweden
• 2010s in Malmö
• Islamic terrorism in Sweden
• Islamic terrorist incidents in 2016
• Terrorist incidents in Europe in 2016
• Terrorist incidents in Sweden