Sweden distributes pamphlets on how to prepare for war, cyber-attacks and terrorism to citizens

- Sweden government distributed security information pamphlet to its citizens

- The leaflet tells the citizens how they can prepare in event of attack and contribute to country’s ‘total defence’

- The pamphlet comes as security debate and the possibility of joining Nato become intensified in Sweden

The Swedish government has reportedly begun sending all 4.8m of the country’s households a public information leaflet telling the population, for the first time in more than half a century, what to do in the event of a war.

Om krisen eller kriget kommer (If crisis or war comes) explains how people can secure basic needs such as food, water and heat, what warning signals mean, where to find bomb shelters and how to contribute to Sweden’s “total defence”, Guardian UK reports.

Legit.ng gathered that the 20-page pamphlet illustrated with pictures of sirens, warplanes and families fleeing their homes, also prepares the population for dangers such as cyber and terror attacks and climate change, and includes a page on identifying fake news.

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The brochure says: “Although Sweden is safer than many other countries, there are still threats to our security and independence.

“If you are prepared, you are contributing to improving the ability of the country to cope with a major strain.”

Similar leaflets were first distributed in neutral Sweden in 1943, at the height of the Second World War.

Updates were reportedly issued regularly to the general public until 1961, and then to local and national government officials until 1991.

Dan Eliasson of the Swedish civil contingencies agency, which is in charge of the project, said:

“Society is vulnerable, so we need to prepare ourselves as individuals.There’s also an information deficit in terms of concrete advice, which we aim to provide.”

The publication comes as the debate on security and the possibility of joining The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has intensified in Sweden in the wake of Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and recent incursions into Swedish airspace and territorial waters by Russian planes and submarines.

The country has started reversing military spending cuts and last year staged its biggest military exercises in nearly a quarter of a century,

Sweden also voted to reintroduce conscription and unveiling joint plans with Denmark to counter Russian cyber-attacks and disinformation.

The leaflet advises people to think about how to cope if there was no heating, food became difficult to buy, prepare and store, there was no water in the taps or toilet, and cash machines, mobile phones and the internet stopped working.

It advises checking the source of all information, warning that “states and organisations are already trying to influence our values and how we act ... and reduce our resilience and willingness to defend ourselves”.

A detailed page of “home preparedness tips” advises the population to stock up on water bottles, warm clothing and sleeping bags, and “non-perishable food that can be prepared quickly, requires little water or can be eaten without preparation”.

In the event of armed conflict, it says, “everyone is obliged to contribute and everyone is needed” for Sweden’s “total defence”: anyone between 16 and 70 “can be called to assist in the event of the threat of war and war”.

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Note that Sweden has not been at war with another country for more than 200 years. If it is attacked, the leaflet says, “we will never give up. All information to the effect that resistance is to cease is false.”

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that Nigerian Nobel Prize winner, Professor Wole Soyinka, described the incessant attacks and killings by the killer herdsmen in many parts of Nigeria as a declaration of war on the country.

The Punch reports that Soyinka who made this known in a statement also warned President Muhammadu Buhari against treating the case of the herdsmen lightly.

He advised President Buhari to avoid falling into the same trap former president Goodluck Jonathan fell into with the Boko Haram sect.

Nigerian Air Force operations against Boko Haram - On Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng