Sweden raises terrorism threat level

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden raised its terrorism threat level on Friday based on a classified intelligence assessment, but authorities said an attack was not imminent and the threat was still low compared to other European countries.

The Swedish Security Service said it had raised the estimated threat level for terrorism targeting the country to "elevated" from "low", based on a review of security by the National Centre of Terrorist Threat Assessment.

Political violence is rare in Sweden, which has roughly 500 troops stationed in Afghanistan as part of a NATO-led force.

"The assessment is based on intelligence indicating a shift in activities among certain groups in Sweden, judged to be targeted at Sweden," the security police said in a statement.

"It should be emphasised that the threat is not currently assessed to be imminent. Compared to the situation in several other European countries, the threat level to Sweden is still low."

The assessment was classified and no further details could be given, the security police said.

Earlier this week, security sources said a militant plot to stage coordinated attacks in Europe had been disrupted in its early stages by drone strikes in Pakistan, though it was not clear if the threat had been fully eliminated.

(Reporting by Niklas Pollard; Editing by Peter Graff)