Key Takeaways
- The Quran-burning demonstration in Malmo triggered violent clashes with police.
- Police reported stone‑throwing and arson, but no arrests or injuries were recorded.
- International condemnation came from several Muslim‑majority countries after the incident.
Stockholm: A residential district in the Swedish city of Malmo was rocked by clashes overnight in the wake of a Quran-burning demonstration on Sunday, with protesters pelting police officers with stones and torching cars, the Swedish police said.
The demonstration was organized on Sunday by Iraqi immigrant Salwan Momika, who had previously carried out a string of Quran-burning protests, the Sveriges Television (SVT) broadcaster said. The police also detained a man attempting to disrupt the action.
Later that day, a crowd gathered in the street. Protesters put up posters calling for the Quran burnings to be stopped, and some masked individuals began throwing stones at the police. No casualties or arrests have been reported so far, SVT said.
“Police and emergency services have been called to Ramels vag Street [in Rosengard neighborhood]. According to the caller, several cars and a separate waste collection building have been set on fire there,” the police said in an incident report issued overnight from Sunday to Monday.
When police officers arrived at the scene, the protesters started pelting them with stones, the report said, adding that the unrest had subsided by 3:20 a.m. local time (01:20 GMT).
Several Quran-burning demonstrations have taken place in Sweden as well as Denmark in recent months. Most Muslim countries have condemned the demonstrations, and some have summoned the Swedish and Danish ambassadors to give them notes of protest. In July, hundreds of Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy after the burning of the Quran in Stockholm.
