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On January 29, 2025, several Telegram channels supporting Iran-backed militias in Iraq shared a report by the Swedish media claiming that Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika, who publicly burned copies of the Quran on several occasions, was shot to death in his apartment in the Swedish city of Södertälje, near Stockholm.
Sabereen News reported that the "bastard" Momika was shot by unknown individuals.[1]
Kofia News added that Momika was killed while live streaming. It attached a video showing the streaming interrupted, allegedly because of the shooting, and a second video documenting the arrival of police at the scene.[2]
On January 30, Syrian jihadi cleric Abu Yahya Al-Shami shared the report and wrote: "Salwan Momika, who burned copies of the Holy Quran, was shot to death in Sweden, after years of defiance and 'protection,' so that his killing would serve as a lesson to others and deter them from daring to disrespect the religion of Muslims and their sanctities."[3]
Momika had publicly desecrated the Quran on several occasions. In one instance, on June 28, 2023, he tore and burned a copy of the Quran outside Stockholm's central mosque, on the Islamic holiday of Eid Al-Adha. These acts were condemned by Islamic countries, Salafi-jihadis and Iran-backed militias in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, as well as by clerics and supporters of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (ISIS).[4]
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