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Two Swedish teenagers arrested in Copenhagen following Israeli embassy explosions

Danish broadcaster DR said the teenagers, aged 16 and 19, are suspected of having acted “in association and with prior agreement with one or more perpetrators”.

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Two Swedish teenagers were arrested at Copenhagen train station in connection with two explosions on Wednesday near the Israeli embassy in the Danish capital.

Prosecutors said investigators were working to determine “if the motive could be a terrorist attack“.

No one was injured in the predawn explosions in a neighborhood housing several foreign diplomatic missions, but the nearby Jewish school was closed following the explosions.

The two men, who cannot be identified due to a court decision, were placed in pre-trial detention for 27 days.

They were charged with possession of illegal weapons and carrying five hand grenades.

Two of the grenades exploded when the suspects threw them at a house near the embassy, ​​prosecutor Søren Harbo said.

“It was quite close to the Israeli embassy,” Mr. Harbo said before Thursday’s hearing. The explosions damaged the roof terrace of a neighboring house.

The diplomatic mission was not damaged.

Thursday’s hearing was held behind closed doors after the preliminary charges were read.

Danish broadcaster DR said the teenagers, aged 16 and 19, are suspected of having acted “in association and with prior agreement with one or more perpetrators”.

Both denied the accusations, local media reported.

The two suspects were arrested shortly before midday on a train at Copenhagen Central Station on Wednesday.

Danish media carried photos of a man dressed in a white hazmat suit being taken away by police from the station platform.

A third suspect, aged 19, who was arrested near the embassy, ​​was released, police said.

In Denmark, indictment is a step below formal indictment and allows authorities to keep suspects in custody during investigation.

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Shots fired in Stockholm

Furthermore, shots were fired late Tuesday afternoon at the Israeli embassy in Stockholm. No one was injured and no arrests were made.

The Danish Internal Security Service, known by the acronym PET, said that “Swedish authorities have assessed that at least one specific act targeting the Israeli embassy in Stockholm, carried out by young criminals in Sweden, had ties to Iran“.

In May, Sweden’s internal security agency SAPO accused Tehran of using criminal networks established in Sweden to target Israelis or Jews.

In a statement, the PET said that “if a state actor incites young criminals to carry out actions targeting Jewish targets in our neighboring country, we can fear that this will also happen in Denmark.”

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Speaking in Copenhagen on Thursday, the Danish head of government, Mette Frederiksensaid it was becoming more and more dangerous to be Jewish in Europe.

Anti-Semitism is on the rise. I cannot distance myself enough from this situation to tell Danish Jews and all those who care about their well-being – fortunately, many of us do – that the authorities are doing everything in their power to protect the Jewish minority in Denmark” she said.

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