Up to 100 masked men, dressed in black, gathered in central Stockholm to attack people from immigrant backgrounds, reports say.

Swedish police say the large gang distributed leaflets inciting people to assault refugees.

Witnesses said the men physically attacked people they believed were foreigners. However, police have not confirmed these reports.

It comes amid heightened tension in Sweden over the migrant crisis.

Some 163,000 migrants applied for asylum in Sweden in 2015, the highest per capita number in Europe.

According to Aftonbladet newspaper, the men in Stockholm were distributing leaflets on Friday evening with the slogan “It’s enough now!”,

The material threatened to give “the North African street children who are roaming around” the “punishment they deserve.”

The newspaper published a video showing the gang clashing with police at Stockholm’s central station.

Knuckledusters

Stockholm police said in a statement (in Swedish) that the group was handing out leaflets with the intention to incite people to carry out crimes.

One man was arrested after punching an officer in the face. Several others were detained on public order offences and another was found with brass knuckledusters, police said. All […]