2 dead as bomb blast rocks Norwegian capital
Source: Agencies |
July 23, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A BOMB blast rocked Norway's capital yesterday, killing at least two people and injuring 15 as it ripped open buildings that included the prime minister's office.
It was Oslo's deadliest bombing, in a city normally associated with the Nobel Peace Prize awarded there.
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was working at home and was unharmed, according to senior adviser Oivind Ostang.
The square where the bomb exploded was covered in twisted metal and shattered glass, and carpeted in documents blown out of surrounding buildings which house government offices and the headquarters of some of Norway's leading newspapers.
Most of the windows were shattered in the high-rise where the prime minister and his administration work.
Oslo police said the explosion was caused by "one or more" bombs, but declined to speculate on who was behind the attack.
They later sealed off the nearby offices of broadcaster TV 2 after discovering a suspicious package.
"So far, police cannot say anything about the scope of the damage, aside from that there's been one or several explosions," a police statement said.
Witness Ole Tommy Pedersen was at a bus stop 100 meters from the government high-rise. "I saw three or four injured people being carried out of the building a few minutes later," Pedersen said.
The blast comes as Norway grapples with a homegrown terror plot linked to al-Qaida. Two suspects are in jail awaiting charges.
Last week, a Norwegian prosecutor filed terror charges against an Iraqi-born cleric for threatening Norwegian politicians with death if he was deported from the country.
The indictment centered on statements that Mullah Krekar - founder of the Kurdish Islamist group Ansar al-Islam - made to various news media.
Terrorism has also been a concern in neighboring Denmark since an uproar over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad six years ago.
It was Oslo's deadliest bombing, in a city normally associated with the Nobel Peace Prize awarded there.
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was working at home and was unharmed, according to senior adviser Oivind Ostang.
The square where the bomb exploded was covered in twisted metal and shattered glass, and carpeted in documents blown out of surrounding buildings which house government offices and the headquarters of some of Norway's leading newspapers.
Most of the windows were shattered in the high-rise where the prime minister and his administration work.
Oslo police said the explosion was caused by "one or more" bombs, but declined to speculate on who was behind the attack.
They later sealed off the nearby offices of broadcaster TV 2 after discovering a suspicious package.
"So far, police cannot say anything about the scope of the damage, aside from that there's been one or several explosions," a police statement said.
Witness Ole Tommy Pedersen was at a bus stop 100 meters from the government high-rise. "I saw three or four injured people being carried out of the building a few minutes later," Pedersen said.
The blast comes as Norway grapples with a homegrown terror plot linked to al-Qaida. Two suspects are in jail awaiting charges.
Last week, a Norwegian prosecutor filed terror charges against an Iraqi-born cleric for threatening Norwegian politicians with death if he was deported from the country.
The indictment centered on statements that Mullah Krekar - founder of the Kurdish Islamist group Ansar al-Islam - made to various news media.
Terrorism has also been a concern in neighboring Denmark since an uproar over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad six years ago.
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