Teenage girls are hiring themselves out as hitwomen in Sweden's organised crime wars, keen to prove they are more deadly and ruthless than young men, prosecutors say.

"I had a case involving a 15-year-old girl recruited to shoot someone in the head," Stockholm prosecutor Ida Arnell told AFP.

"She was able to choose the type of mission she wanted, in other words, to aim at the guy's door or his head. She chose the head."

She was arrested with a 17-year-old male accomplice, who pulled the trigger, leaving the victim clinging to life after being shot in the neck, stomach and legs.

Arnell said an increasing number of girls are offering their services to mobsters, including as hitwomen, on encrypted messaging sites.

Girls "have to show that they are even more determined and tougher (than b

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