by WorldTribune Staff, January 30, 2017

Overwhelmed by a surge in violent crime, police in Malmo, Sweden have appealed to the public for assistance.

Much of the violence originates in the city’s Rosengard district, which has been labeled the “most notorious refugee ghetto” in Sweden. Over 80 percent of Rosengard’s residents are migrants and less than 40 percent of the district’s residents have jobs.

Police chief Stefan Sinteus said Malmo police officers are currently investigating 11 murders and 80 attempted murders, as well as a large number of rapes, beatings and other violent crimes, according to a Jan. 28 report by the UK’s Express.

In an open letter, a desperate Sinteus wrote: “I can assure you that the police in Malmo are doing everything we can for suspected perpetrators to be held accountable. But we cannot do it on our own. We depend on you, and your witness statements, to solve these violent crimes. Therefore I appeal now to you: Help us.”

The current crisis is the city’s second serious surge of violence in the past 12 months. In July 2016, national police units were deployed to the city to help stop a spate of bombings, shootings and arson attacks, the Express report said.

The police chief’s letter comes amid reports that witnesses to the murder of a 16-year-old Iraqi boy named Ahmed Obaid, who was shot in the Rosengard district on Jan. 14, were frightened to come forward after racist threats directed at his former schoolmates were posted under the photo of his dead body.

The school’s headmaster said: “They are scared. They are terrified and are wondering who’s going to be shot next.”

Reinforcements from Sweden’s National Operations Department deployed in Malmo last week in an effort to help tackle the “upward spiral of violence” in the city.