Sweden: 30 Swedes on Jihad in Somalia
Swedish newspaper DN reports that the Swedish security service Säpo is closely monitoring the situation in Sweden, now that the Somali al-Shabaab has officially joined al-Qaeda.
About 30 Swedes have gone to Somalia for Jihad or Jihad training. Säpo says the trend is increasing and that a a dozen others have gone to other conflict areas. The most famous al-Shabaab site is run from Sweden by a Muslim convert from Gothenburg.
Swedish journalist Per Gudmundson points out the timeline in his blog:
May 2009: SvD reports that 20 Swedes had gone to Somalia for Jihad and that a dozen were in Somalia at the time.
October 2009: Aftonbladet reports a dozen Swedes had gone to Afghanistan/Pakistan
December 2010: DN reports about 30 Swedes had gone to Pakistan and Somalia in the past five years.
February 2012: DN reports about 30 Swedes have gone to Somalia and a dozen more to other conflict zones.
In other words, in the past two and a half years, about 20 Swedes have joined the Jihad in Somali and Pakistan.
