Sweden’s national security service, SAPO, elevated its terrorist alert to the second-highest level on Thursday, emphasizing the potential for prolonged threats following incidents of Quran burnings and other anti-Islam actions that have deeply angered Muslim communities.
In response to these provocations, both Denmark and Sweden have heightened border controls, expressing concerns about potential reprisal attacks after copies of the Muslim holy book were desecrated by anti-Islam activists in recent months.
The global Muslim community has widely denounced these actions, with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling for severe consequences for those responsible and characterizing Sweden’s stance as adversarial against the Muslim world.
SAPO increased the threat level from 3 to 4 on a scale of 1 to 5, indicating a “high threat” scenario. Charlotte von Essen, the head of SAPO, highlighted the shift from Sweden being a potential target to now being prioritized as a target for potential terrorist activities, during a press conference.
