Many years ago Recep Tayyip Erdogan famously quoted a poem by the 20th-century Turkish nationalist writer Ziya Gökalp:

The mosques are our barracks,
the domes our helmets,
the minarets our bayonets,
and the believers our soldiers.

One of those barracks was raided today by security police in the Swedish town of Tyresö, and four people were arrested for planning a terrorist attack. Many thanks to Gary Fouse for translating this article from Dagens Nyheter. The translator notes that the targeted building seems to be some sort of informal mosque:

Four suspected of preparing for a terrorist crime — Connected to ISIS

March 7, 2024

Four persons suspected of preparing for a terrorist crime and aggravated weapons possession were arrested Thursday in Tyresö. According to the Security Police (Säpo), the suspected crimes are connected to the ISIS terror organization.

“We had to act to disrupt the planned crime and avert a possible threat,” says Fredrik Hultgren-Friberg, Säpo press spokesman, to DN.

The case involves violent Islamist extremism where the Security Police also see connections to large-scale organized crime, the authorities write in a press release.

The raid on Thursday was carried out at, among other places, a building that residents in the area describe as a mosque and gathering place.

“I saw police lying on a hill here behind us and they moved. Two of the operational forces then came and moved me out of the way. They went ahead with a sledgehammer and began to break the windows. When they had broken openings in the windows, they threw in stun grenades,” says an eye witness to the police operation.

The witness describes how the police then broke down the door to the premises and searched it; then technicians arrived at the scene.

A man who usually visits the mosque has reached the closed-off location.

“I was married in this mosque, and I have been coming here for about ten years. It is a good mosque, and I have never heard anyone say anything about terrorism or anything like it. This really surprises me, and I wonder what led to this,” says a man standing outside the mosque.

One of the police officers who are at the scene tells DN that he, among other things, is tasked with calming people who became upset when they saw the raid.

In total, four persons were arrested in connection with the operation on suspicion of preparing a terrorist crime and aggravated weapons possession, Säpo reports.

“It involves a group of individuals in the violent Islamist environment. The suspected crimes have international connections and are tied to the ISIS terror organization,” says Fredrik Hultgren-Friberg, Säpo press spokesman, to DN.

Why was the raid conducted now?

“Based on our undercover work, it was judged that we needed to take action to stop the planned crimes and avert a possible threat. I cannot go into any concrete time aspects, but in the duties of the Security Police, it means that we often have to act in a timely manner to avert a threat.”

“We cannot wait for a crime to happen. When it comes to human life, we can never take chances,” he says.

In connection with the operation in Tyresö, several house searches were carried out under the leadership of the National Unit for Security Goals.*