Iranian authorities state that an American F-35 fighter jet was shot down over Iran, with Tehran adding it is unlikely the pilot survived. The U.S. has not commented on these claims. This incident occurs amid heightened regional hostilities, following a reported Iranian drone attack on Kuwait's Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery. According to state media, a fire broke out at the refinery due to the attack. Kuwait's military announced overnight that its air defense attempted to intercept missiles and drones targeting its territory. The refinery, which has been attacked by Iran earlier in the conflict, is one of the Middle East's largest, with a capacity to process about 730,000 barrels of oil per day.
In western Sweden, masked or hooded individuals destroyed at least 80 cars by setting them on fire in a suspected coordinated attack, according to police. The incidents occurred in Gothenburg, Trollhättan, and Lysekil. Police suspect it was a coordinated attack and claim they have a good idea of which individuals were in the affected areas at the time. Authorities have identified and spoken to young people who were in the area. A 19-year-old, living near Gothenburg, was detained in his absence by Interpol in Turkey, suspected of playing a major role in the riots. A diplomatic process has been initiated to secure his release from Turkey.
The first emergency call about burning cars came into Swedish 112 from Västra Frölunda just after 9 p.m. on Monday evening local time. At about the same time, calls came in from Hjällbo. Similar alarm calls soon also came from Angered in northeast Gothenburg, where masked adolescents allegedly had been setting cars on fire. Several witnesses state that they saw 5-6 youth dressed in black who lit the cars on fire. There were allegedly young people in dark hoodies and Adidas sports pants that lit fire on cars, then ran away.
Burning cars and young men throwing rocks at police, and sometimes also firefighters, has occasionally been a problem for several years in Sweden. Similar riots have historically happened in poorer neighbourhoods outside of Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. Several social outreach programs have been initiated by the fire services to make youth in affected areas feel welcome in first response professions. These outreach programs have been reportedly quite effective but have not managed to get rid of the problems entirely.
There has been speculation that there was a political motif for the riots, given the Swedish election coming up in September. However, according to Swedish media, neither police nor academic experts on politically motivated violence has yet found such a connection. Riots in Sweden are often described in foreign press as a large and ongoing problem; however, these types of events are quite rare.
Separately, a serious single-vehicle accident occurred on Riksväg 27 south of Värnamo around 2 a.m. The car caught fire with open flames when the rescue service arrived. The driver, a man in his 20s, was able to exit the vehicle himself. The driver was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. The car became completely burnt out, and the road was closed during rescue operations.
Multiple other car fires were reported across Sweden and Norway, raising questions about possible connections. On Wednesday evening, rescue services were alerted about a passenger car that started burning while driving on a country road. The alarm came in at ten past eight on Wednesday evening and concerns a passenger car on road 691 outside Avafors in Luleå municipality that started burning. The car is burning with open flames, it caught fire during travel, and the driver was able to pull over and park in a parking bay. The driver is reported to have gotten out of the car.
Specific incidents include a fire that broke out in a passenger car in Säffle municipality. At 23:41 on Wednesday evening, SOS was alerted. A passenger car on Magnegatan in Märsta is in flames, and rescue services are on the way to the location. A car is burning in Vidsel, Älvsbyn municipality. According to SOS alarm, the car is 15 meters from a building.
In Norway, a car is burning on the E6 in the northbound direction at Djupdalen in Lillestrøm. Traffic is moving slowly past in one lane. There are traffic problems and queues, according to the East Police District. The fire department is working on extinguishing at the site.
At 11:44, the alarm came in about a burning car in Rismyran outside Burträsk. The emergency services are on their way to the scene with three units but have not yet arrived. According to an operator at SOS Alarm, a passenger car allegedly caught fire while travelling. The emergency services extinguished the fire, with no casualties.
Despite the Middle East tensions, international air travel increased by 5 percent in March. Swedavia reported that international traffic was affected to some extent by the situation in the Middle East, but overall development remained positive. From Stockholm Arlanda Airport, a total of 1.9 million passengers flew in March, of which over 1.5 million traveled internationally. From Gothenburg Landvetter Airport, 384,000 passengers flew, of which 341,000 traveled abroad. The total number of air passengers increased by 6 percent in March, to 2.6 million, at Swedavia's ten airports.
In other violent incidents overnight, a man and a woman were turned away from a nightclub in Gävle last night. Security guards apprehended the man and woman after both resisted. The man attacked the security guards, so they had to handcuff him. The couple is suspected of crimes: the woman for violent resistance, and the man for violent resistance and violence against an official.
In Uppsala, at 22:43 on Thursday evening, police were to check the driver of a flatbed moped. The driver, a man in his 50s, tried to run over the police patrol. No one was injured in the incident. The man blew into the police control instrument and tested positive. He is suspected of attempted violence against an official, unauthorized driving, and negligence in traffic.
During the night, police received a report of people fighting at a house party in Österbybruk in Uppsala County. A 15-year-old boy is suspected of hitting a man in his 20s, and police filed a report. No one required medical care, and the boy was driven home by police.
Additionally, a man in his 90s is suspected of aggravated drunk driving.