2nd Explosion Rocks Malmo, Sweden in Less Than a Week

3rd explosion in Sweden this year

The New Normal - Exploding Sweden

© Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency/via / Reuters

Another explosion has rocked the Swedish city of Malmo, just days after a grenade attack directly targeted a police station.

No injuries have been reported in the blast that happened around 9pm local time outside a restaurant located in an office building in the Rosengard city district, police said. The facade of the building was damaged in the explosion, the Aftonbladet reported.

Police secured the area and a bomb squad was sent to the scene. An Audi was seen close to the area moments before the blast, according to reports.

The office building is located near the police station in Rosengard where an explosion rang out Wednesday. Several cars were damaged when an assailant detonated a hand grenade outside a precinct.

Malmo waterfront

Rosengard is one of the locations in Sweden described as “a geographically-defined area characterized by a low socio-economic status where criminals have an impact on the local community.” Authorities have long struggled to quell the violence associated with conflicts erupting between various gangs and ethnic groups in recent years.

Rosengård is to a high degree populated by minorities. In 1972, the percentage of immigrants was around 18%, with the majority of inhabitants being working-class people from rural Sweden. Since 1974, there has been a "white flight" out of the suburb as more immigrants were assigned there. By 2012, the figure for those of "immigrant background" was given as 86%.

In other words, it is rapidly becoming a 'no-go zone' right in the middle of Malmo, Sweden's 3rd largest city. Stefan's legacy?

So far, they seem to be just practicing. I fear much worse is yet to come.

Two weeks ago on January 7, an explosion at a suburban Stockholm subway station left a man dead after he picked up a hand grenade which exploded in his hand. A 45-year-old woman was also injured in the blast.