Sweden ready to 'use anything' to force mystery sub to surface

 

Sweden won't exactly confirm that it's been looking for a foreign submarine in the country's territorial waters.

But if it finds something it doesn't like, it is ready to do whatever is needed to force it to the surface, a Swedish military spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Swedish media have reported that the military has been looking for a mystery underwater vessel, possibly Russian. The search began Thursday after Swedish intelligence picked up an emergency radio call in Russian, reported The Local, citing the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet.

"We don't know what it is," but we "are prepared to use anything necessary to bring the vessel to the surface if we need to," Swedish military spokeswoman Therese Fagerstedt told CNN on Tuesday.

Helicopters, battleships and minesweepers searched waters off Sweden's capital, Stockholmm on Tuesday, The Local reported.

Thursday's radio transmissions were being sent to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, 330 miles (530 kilometers) south of Stockholm on the Baltic's southern shore, according to The Local report.