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On 11 October 2016, a fire was deliberately set at the Malmö Muslim community centre in Malmö, Sweden. 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. In June 2017, an "ISIS propagandist" was arrested in Germany, accused of contacting the accused on social media in order to verify this attack and others on behalf of Amaq News Agency and the Islamic State.

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 early June, 2017, the accused was acquitted of all charges and the fire was deemed to be arson, but not to be terrorism-related.

Possible Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant involvement

According to The Local, 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. 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, German police arrested a A 23 year old Syrian man identified only as Mohammed G., accusing him of passing on information to the Amaq News Agency about this and other events since 2014. 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”.

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. ^ "Isis claims unremarked arson attack in Malmö". The Local. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
11. 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.
12. "Sweden Muslims express 'shock' over mosque fire". Al Jazeera. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
13. Naylor, Brian (6 February 2017). "White House List Contradicts Trump Claim That Terror Attacks Go Unreported". NPR. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
14. 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.
15. Jacobson, Louis (Feb 6, 2017). "Donald Trump wrong that media is not reporting on terrorism any more". Politifact.
16. 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