Last year 257 bomb attacks were reported to police, up from 162 in 2018

A surge in drug-linked gang violence in Sweden led to a 60% increase in bomb blasts in 2019, according to government statistics, as police work to rid the streets of explosives and guns with more officers on patrol.

Sweden has been hit by a wave of shootings and bombings over the past couple of years, which police have linked to gang conflicts in major cities, shocking Swedes, who have long considered their country as one of the safest in the world.

Some 257 bomb attacks were reported to police last year, up from 162 the previous year, the statistics from the National Council for Crime Prevention showed.

The agency did not give any information about the types of explosives most frequently used nor any other details, but Swedish media have reported some attackers used makeshift bombs made from vacuum flasks packed with explosive material.

The public outcry over increased violence has forced the government to boost spending on the police and to launch a programme to fight organised crime, as law and order becomes one of the main political battlefields.

Ulf Kristersson, leader of the opposition Moderates party, said: “This government has lost control over crime in Sweden. We have seen in recent years how the number of fatalities has increased. Now bomb blasts are also increasing in a way that lacks international equivalence.”

The office of the prime minister, Stefan Löfven, declined to comment on the figures, which were contained within a broader report on reported crime, which overall was down marginally in 2019 against the previous year.

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The interior minister, Mikael Damberg, on Monday told the Swedish news agency TT he was convinced a new police taskforce would make a difference, and that he aimed for sentences for bomb attacks and smuggling to be stiffened by the end of the year.

Police have identified about 60 deprived areas, mainly in and around larger cities, where unemployment is high, incomes low, and where drugs and gangs have gained a firm foothold.

In November they set up a task force to fight violent crime following the death of a 15-year-old boy in Malmö, when a gunman open fire on a pizza restaurant.

At the time, the police said the taskforce would focus on getting criminals off the streets, reducing access to guns and explosives, and increasing the police presence in affected areas.

However, they said the problems were impossible to solve by the police alone.

“There is no simple solution to complex problems,” Stefan Hector, the head of the taskforce, said in November.

Kristersson made his comments after an explosion on Sunday in one of Stockholm’s most high-end neighbourhoods, which destroyed part of a residential building and several cars parked outside. The blast was heard several miles away, but no one was injured in the explosion.