According to an Iraqi soldier fighting against the Islamic State in Mosul, ISIS would be able to conquer Sweden “in a few hours”.
The account was published by war correspondent Magda Gad, who is currently covering the fight against ISIS in Iraq for the Swedish newspaper Expressen.
Gad told the fighter that some areas of Sweden are offering ISIS fighters returning from Syria housing, employment, education and financial welfare in an effort to reintegrate them into society.
Leftists in Sweden have supported such policies, arguing that it is better to help “extremists” than to abandon them. The question of whether or not letting ISIS jihadists back into the country in the first place is a good idea was not part of the discussion.
Reacting to the news, the Iraqi soldier, who “risked his life to fight against IS,” had “tears in his eyes,” according to Gad, who said the exchange represented her “worst moment” while in Iraq, and was even more depressing than being under heavy bombardment by ISIS.
Gad asked the soldier how long it would take ISIS to “take Sweden”.
“Not days. Hours. In a few hours,” he responded.
Gad went on to highlight how Sweden is a hotbed for ISIS activity. Sweden is routinely ranked amongst the top European countries in terms of producing Islamic State fighters per capita.
Osama Krayem, born in Malmo, Sweden in 1992, went to Syria to fight for ISIS in 2014 and returned to Europe posing as a refugee on a false passport. He went on to meet with Salah Abdeslam, one of the Paris massacre culprits, to help coordinate the attack.
Krayem was also involved in planning for the Brussels bombing and had intended to be the second metro bomber, but backed out at the last minute.
Ironically, Krayem had once participated in a documentary called Without Borders which was about “how to succeed with integration” of migrants into Swedish society.”
Gad also mentions Mohamed Belkaid, a 35-year-old Algerian who emigrated to and lived for several years in Sweden.
Belkaid was killed by Belgian police during the raid that led to the capture of Abdeslam, whom he was associated with. Two other suspects who escaped the raid, Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui, went on to carry out the Brussels bombings a week later.
Belkaid was part of a terrorist network in Sweden with a man called Abu Omar, whose task was to recruit and finance ISIS jihadists, an operation he ran out of two stores based in Stockholm. Omar was also linked to the Paris and Brussels attacks and is still at large.