Sweden has raised its terrorist threat level to the second-highest number possible, as the prime minister said the country had thwarted planned attacks.
The move comes amid heightened security fears following a string of Qur’an burnings that have caused outrage around the world.
Raising the threat level from three, meaning “heightened threat”, to four, “high threat”, on the five-point scale, the Swedish security service (Säpo) said that in recent months Sweden had shifted from a “legitimate” to a “prioritised” target for acts of terror.
It is the first time since 2016 that the country has changed its threat level to four.
Making the announcement on Thursday in Stockholm, Charlotte von Essen, the director general of Säpo, said that Sweden was becoming an “increased focus” for Islamic extremists.
R&I-Rawr