STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's government said on Friday it would clear the way for the military to provide greater assistance to the police in combating a crime wave that has rocked the country and left 12 people dead in September alone.
Shootings have become an almost daily occurrence in Sweden - some carried out by teenagers - with most of the violence blamed on gangs.
Swedish law currently prohibits the military helping the police in any situation where the use of force could be necessary except in the case of terrorist attacks or war.
Following a meeting with the heads of the police and armed forces, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the two would now have an official mandate to explore ways to cooperate.
The government will also look at changing the law to widen the circumstances in which the police can request military help, though it gave no specific details.
"The wave of violence is... unprecedented in Sweden, but it is also unprecedented in Europe, no other country has a situation like the one we have," he told a news conference.
The government said it wanted the military and police to help each other on logistics, IT-forensics, bomb-expertise and analytics which could already happen under current laws.
Successive governments have boosted funding for the police and the criminal justice system and toughened sentences for violent crimes but so far with little noticeable effect.
Kristersson said the government had received offers of help from across the Nordic region, adding that his counterparts in Norway, Finland and Denmark did not want "Swedish gang crime to get a foothold" in their countries.
Eleven people have been fatally shot this month and one was killed by a bomb, making September the deadliest month since December 2019.
Sixty two people were shot dead in Sweden last year and police figures show 42 deaths so far this year.