Sweden to speed up surveillance legislation for minors after bombing wave

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden will fast-track new legislation to allow police to use electronic surveillance tools against minors after dozens of gang-related bombings in the capital Stockholm in January, the prime minister said on Thursday.

Sweden has been plagued by gang crime that has escalated over the last two decades and in 2023 the Nordic country registered the highest level of deadly gun violence per capita in Europe.

There has been an unprecedented spate of bombings, primarily in the Stockholm region, with more than 30 this month alone, most of them acts of extortion by gangs against companies and citizens, police officials say.

"It is quite obvious that we don't have control over the wave of violence," Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said after a meeting with the Council Against Organised Crime which groups government, police and customs officials.

The January bombings have caused damage to buildings and some injuries but no deaths. Police have ordered residents in some areas of southern Stockholm to stay indoors at times.

Gangs have taken to social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram over the past two years to hire youths to carry out attacks, police investigators say.

"Today, we see 12-, 13- and 14-year-olds carrying out horrific violent missions as if they were extra jobs," National Police Commissioner Petra Lundh said. "The missions are openly advertised on digital marketplaces."

Kristersson said the government would push through legislation this year to allow police to go through mobile phones and electronically eavesdrop on people under age 15.

"This is important so we get to those who often sit far away and order crimes by children in Sweden," Kristersson said.

He criticized social media platforms for not doing enough to protect children. "If this is not done, we will use Swedish law against their ability to use the platforms in this way."

Despite the upsurge of bombing, Swedish police have made headway against the gangs - there have been fewer deadly shootings and more convictions over the last two years.

(Reporting by Johan Ahlander; editing by Mark Heinrich)