3:34 pm A large bomb has gone off near a government office building. Early reports suggested a second blast, however nothing has confirmed this and it seems like a erroneous report.
Video immediately after the blast:
http://www.dagbladet.no/2011/07/22/n...ombe/17419976/
5:16 pm Update .. A lone gunman dressed as a police officer opens fire on a small island on a lake 1hr drive west of Oslo, possibly killing/wounding as many as 5 youths there for a political camp. Kids at the camp have been tweeting panic, kids diving into the water to swim for safety, hiding in the bushes.
Update ..
Quote:
7.11pm:The New York Times has more on the claim of responsibility by an Islamist group (thanks to Marta Hernandez Salvan for passing this on):
A terror group, Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami (the Helpers of the Global Jihad), issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, according to Will McCants, a terrorism analyst at CNA, a research institute that studies terrorism. The message said the attack was a response to Norwegian forces' presence in Afghanistan and to unspecified insults to the Prophet Muhammad. "We have warned since the Stockholm raid of more operations," the group said, apparently referred to a bombing in Sweden in December 2010, according to Mr McCants' translation. "What you see is only the beginning, and there is more to come." The claim could not be confirmed.
This is horrible, lots of rumors going around as why and who the target was.
7.44pm: An eyewitness has told Norway's NRK broadcaster he saw more than 20 bodies at camp shooting.
7.57pm: Former Guardian staffer Neil Perry, based in Oslo, is watching Norwegian television and tells me they are showing images taken from a helicopter showing people still swimming in the water off Utoya Island, presumably they threw themselves into the sea to get away from the gunman. An eyewitness has reported bodies of people who had been shot floating in the water.
8.54pm: Here are the main points made in recent police press conference, according to an email sent to me by Henrik Hildre:
- 9 or 10 people confirmed dead at Utøya so far, preliminary search completed, they are now conducting a more thorough search.
- Several injured, no definite number.
- No more dead found in Oslo.
- The arrested man is talking to the police. He was arrested wearing a blue top with a police logo.
9.02pm: According to David Berry, from the department of Political Studies at Swansea University, on NRK in the last few minutes they interviewed the head of police in Oslo and he stated that the gunman was NOT wearing a police uniform, rather a blue jumper which had a Norwegian police badge or sign on it. He also confirmed that the suspect had never worked for the police.
9.07pm: On Twitter runehak, who works for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, says:
News agency NTB says police do NOT think this is international terrorism. #osloexpl #oslobomb #whys
10.01pm: Neil Perry tells me the police have said that the same man was seen at the site of both attacks.
He thinks this is starting to look less like the work of international terrorists and more like that of a lone attacker with a grudge against the government.
10.22pm: Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has confirmed that the current number of people killed at the youth camp was nine or 10, but said police, "fear that there could be more."
10.41pm: On BBC's Newsnight Security Correspondent Gordon Corera says a youth rally is not a usual type of target for an Islamist terrorist - a factor which suggests the attacks may have been carried out by someone with a national agenda, but he points out that the car bombing in Oslo was big, so it would have been a lot for someone working alone to achieve.
A Norwegian police official says the 32-year-old Norwegian man suspected of the Oslo bombing and a shooting at a youth camp does not appear to be linked to Islamist terrorism.
The official says the attacks probably have more in common with the 1995 attack on a U.S. federal building in Olkahoma City than the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
He says the suspect appears to have acted alone, and "it seems like that this is not linked to any international terrorist organizations at all." He added that the investigation is still ongoing and that things can change.
The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because that information has not yet been released by Norway's police.
Information of Mullah Krekar which has been fighting extradition in Norway for many years now, is often accused of having many terrorist ties and active involvement with terrorists.
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Last edited by Thor; 07-22-2011 at 11:18 PM.
Reason: updating news
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I grew up in Norway, still have lots of friends and family there. Always seemed like one of those places where something like this would never happen. I really hope this does not turn out to be the work of terrorists.
This is terrible, hopefully the casualties somehow remain at one...but I doubt it. The comments section under the article almost had me flying into a blind rage, how can there be so many ignorant people in the world?
I don't get it, Norway indicated that they were going to be voting for the Palestinians at the UN vote
Assuming that is the motivation is a bit premature at this point. All that's known right now is that an explosion happened, possibly at a tabloid newspaper close to the prime ministers office.
My sister is on the phone trying to get hold of her friends there who live in Oslo, I doubt they are in any danger but wow her fear really drills this attack home.
I'm avoiding the comments on CNN, already shaking I'm so angry.
Fortunately only one person dead so far, which is good given the pretty large amount of damage done to that building.
As for the culprit? This almost looks like more of a Timothy McVeigh type bombing. Given that it was a government building hit and the casualty count is so low, I would suspect local anarchists or some kind of far left/right political movement.
Probably not the best idea to start 'suspecting' what group(s) may or may not be responsible for this.
And this looks nothing like the Murragh Building bomb in OKC. There are some blown out windows and fascia damage, but not wholesale structural damage like in OKC.
Fortunately only one person dead so far, which is good given the pretty large amount of damage done to that building.
As for the culprit? This almost looks like more of a Timothy McVeigh type bombing. Given that it was a government building hit and the casualty count is so low, I would suspect local anarchists or some kind of far left/right political movement.
I'm reading nrk.no right now. They're reporting two dead.
They also say the police supect the attack may be directed toward the goverment oil/energy department because the explosion happened between the prime minister's office and that department.
They also say the injury count is relatively low because it was a Friday afternoon and a lot of people had already left for the weekend.
I'm reading nrk.no right now. They're reporting two dead.
They also say the police supect the attack may be directed toward the goverment oil/energy department because the explosion happened between the prime minister's office and that department.
They also say the injury count is relatively low because it was a Friday afternoon and a lot of people had already left for the weekend.
Anyone suggesting that it might have been a failed assassination attempt? Was the PM supposed to be around then?
Anyone suggesting that it might have been a failed assassination attempt? Was the PM supposed to be around then?
The prime minister was no where near his office when the attack happened. If he was the target, personally, I think the attackers would have known that. The attack towards the oil and energy department is the only theory I've read so far.
The main speculation is some radical cleric last year was threatened with deportation, he vowed if he was deported that he would attack Norway.
The other's loosely being talked about is Norway's decision to publish the Mohammed cartoons and its involvement in Afghanistan and its actions against Libya.
Whats odd though about all this is the timing... Today was a government holiday and there were very few people in the area, so if it was a terrorist attack why wouldn't you wait for a normal day to bring up the death toll.
That certainly makes you wonder if its a non Islam related issue, and a crazy one man bomber.
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Oslo Bombing *Updated in first post*
