Terrorist Attacks in Norway?

[DeToxRox]

From CNN

Update: 12:50 p.m. ET, 6:50 p.m. Oslo] Norwegian State broadcaster NRK and the press spokesperson for the State
Secretary has confirmed to CNN that a person dressed up as a policeman fired shots at a Labour party youth camp on Utoya island in Norway. Many people are injured.

[Update: 12:48 p.m. ET, 6:48 p.m. Oslo] Shots were fired at an Oslo youth meeting following the blast, police told Reuters, quoted by CNN TV. No further details were available.

A reporter with State TV broadcaster NRK is reporting that there is mass confusion within the city. The cause of the blast remains unknown, and no one has claimed responsibility.

CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said it was far too early to draw any conclusions on whether it was terrorism and who would carry it out. But, he said, by looking at the extent of the damage, it was plain to see the hallmarks of a major attack.

Cruickshank said that in recent months, there had been increased "chatter" about Norway, which had been investigating militants suspected of being linked to al Qaeda.

Norway also drew the ire of al Qaeda for publishing the controversial political cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that appeared in a Danish newspaper and sparked outrage in the militant Islamic community.

The Scandinavian country also plays a part in NATO's operation in Afghanistan, and now, in Libya.

Norway has been largely spared from terrorism. But last December, an attempted suicide bombing in Stockholm shocked neighboring Sweden.

In July of last year, Norwegian authorities announced the arrests of three suspects in connection with an investigation into terrorist plots in New York and the United Kingdom.

The three were suspected of plotting terrorist attacks and having connections to al Qaeda, the prime minister's office said at the time.

Stoltenberg, who has been prime minister since October 2005, heads a coalition government made up of the Labour Party, the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party.

[Update: 12:31 p.m. ET, 6:31 p.m. Oslo] iReporter Ian Dutton of New York told CNN when the explosion occurred he was sleeping in his hotel room. "The concussion was [such] that I felt like my bed was struck by lightning … I thought it was an earthquake but Norway is not prone to earthquakes," he said.

He said immediately after the blast, people on the streets seemed stunned.“There wasn’t even initial panic, but more of a shock or ‘how could this be?” he said.

The streets in the blast zone were strangely quiet after the commotion, he said. "Generally it’s a pretty-hopping downtown area, but not now," he said. "The bystanders are being kept quite a distance away."

The site of Friday's blast in Oslo, Norway.

[Update: 12:11 p.m. ET, 6:11 p.m. Oslo] State TV broadcaster NRK confirmed at least two people are dead following an explosion that rocked downtown Oslo, Norway.

[Update: 12:08 p.m. ET, 6:08 p.m. Oslo] Asgeir Ueland, a journalist with Norwegian state broadcaster, said as soon as the explosion occurred it smelled like a burned tire and he knew it wasn't just a gas explosion.

"I knew right away it was an explosion," Ueland told CNN.

Ueland, who said he has reported in the Middle East, compared attacks he has seen there to what he experienced Friday in Norway.

"This was bigger than anything I've seen," he said of other blasts he's seen.

Ueland described the reaction as groups of people in a state of shock.

"There were a lot of people running away crying and screaming," Ueland said.

[Update: 12:02 a.m. ET, 6:02 p.m. Oslo] Joakim Vars Nilsem told CNN that after the blast many people in Oslo were simply in panic and trying to figure out if there was an attack or an explosion going on.

“First of all we just felt tremendous pressure … people were just in shock … they didn’t understand where it was," he said. "People are trying to be calm … we just don’t know what happened right now.”

[Update: 11:53 a.m. ET, 5:53 p.m. Oslo] Ian Dutton, an airline pilot who arrived in Oslo Friday, heard a powerful blast and observed the aftermath from the vantage point of his 28th floor hotel room.

"It rocked me out of bed," he said.

Dutton, who lives in New York City, said that the scene reminded him of what he witnesses on September 11, 2001 there.

"Seeing the emergency response gives me that same feeling in my spine of being in someone's crosshairs," he said.

Ian Dutton, an iReporter, took this photo of the blast in Norway from his hotel room.

The building that suffered the explosion had a heliport on its room, and now had beams hanging from it, Dutton, an iReporter, said. Most of the windows were blown off and curtains were dangling.

"I can see the warped metal of the building," he said.

There was a line of yellow ambulances by the scene, and a police cordon that kept onlookers back.

"I didn't know Oslo had so many ambulances," he said.

[Update: 11:46 a.m. ET, 5:46 p.m. Oslo] Jon Martin Larsen, head of media for the Norwegian Red Cross, told CNN: "The Norwegian Red Cross has established its own crisis team and is in contact with the municipality of Oslo and the police, ready to assist with whatever they need of first aiders, rescue teams, ambulance or caretakers either in the city center or at the hospitals."

[Update: 11:23 a.m. ET, 5:23 p.m. Oslo] A bomb exploded in a government area, a press officer at Oslo Police Station confirmed to CNN.

“There has been a bomb explosion in the government area," the officer said. "At least one person is dead and a number of people are injured, we don’t have the exact number yet."

Medics treat some of the injured at the scene of an explosion in Oslo, Norway.

But that spokesperson said so far they don't know what the cause was.

"We don’t know if this comes from a terrorist action, we don’t know yet. We don’t know exactly how many explosions were yet," the spokesperson said. "Oslo Center has been evacuated."

People rush to help what appears to be an injured woman after a blast in Oslo, Norway.

A U.S. official says it is too soon to tell what caused the explosion in Oslo or whether it is a terrorist attack. The possibility of terrorism is always a concern because of the ongoing threat from al Qaeda to launch attacks in Europe.

[Update: 11:21 a.m. ET, 5:21 p.m. Oslo] Hans Kristian Amundsen, state secretary of Norway, said the country's prime minister was safe and working at an undisclosed location.

[Update: 11:03 a.m. ET, 5:03 p.m. Oslo] Norwegian state broadcaster NRK says at least one person has died after a huge explosion rocked the center of the capital, Oslo. Dozens more are being treated in hospitals, NRK said, and all roads leading to the center of Oslo have been blocked.

A photo posted on Twitter via photo service Yfrog.com shows damage from a blast in Norway.

[Update: 11:00 a.m. ET, 5:00 p.m. Oslo] A hotel worker in Oslo's Grand Hotel, about a five-minute walk from the government building, said everyone in the hotel felt and heard the explosion, which felt like someone was shaking the entire building.

"It's crazy," she said, not wanting to be identified because she is not authorized to speak to the media on behalf of the hotel. "This happens in the big world, not in Oslo. I'm shocked."

Vivian Paulsen, media adviser for the Norwegian Red Cross, lives 20 minutes away from the center of Oslo in the northern outskirts of the city. She said she heard a "huge blast."

"I heard the big bang, I didn't think it was anything serious. I can still see smoke coming up from the place," she said, watching from her apartment balcony. She also heard sirens and ambulances.

As for Oslo, she said what others have been saying: Events like this don't happen in the northern European capital.

"There's occasional arrests of terror suspects we read about in the paper, or people planning something. I can hear ambulances and sirens."

[Update: 10:48 a.m. ET, 4:48 p.m. Oslo] Nick Soubiea, an American-Swedish tourist in Oslo, told CNN he was less than 100 yards from the blast, which he described as deafening.

"It was almost in slow motion, like a big wave that almost knocked us off our chairs," he said. "It was extremely frightening."

He said the streets were crowded with people trying to get away from the center of the city. "There are people running down the streets, people crying, everyone's on their cell phones calling home," he said.

Crowds evacuate from downtown Oslo, Norway after an explosion.

[Update: 10:47 a.m. ET, 4:47 p.m. Oslo] A spokesperson for the Legevakten Hospital in Oslo, Norway confirmed the blasts in the downtown area but said they weren't sure how bad it was.

"Right now we are not too sure what has happened, we are watching the news and talking to the other hospitals," the spokesperson said. "We don’t know what caused it or how many people are injured."

[Update: 10:36 a.m. ET, 4:36 p.m. Oslo] One explosion happened near a government building housing the office of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, said the reporter, Linda Reinholdsen. Another hit near the Norwegian parliament, she said.

A photo posted on Twitpic and then on Twitter shows damage from the blasts in Norway.

Several buildings in Oslo were on fire, she said, and smoke was pouring from them.

Gibbs, the journalist with Reuters, said he believes one explosion happened on an upper floor of a main government building. He said it blew out every window on the side of the building where the blast occurred.

One of the blasts damaged the Oil Ministry and left it in flames, he said.


[Update: 10:16 a.m. ET, 4:16 p.m. Oslo] At least one of the explosions happened near some government buildings, said Walter Gibbs, a journalist with Reuters. He said he saw eight injured people, including two or three with serious wounds and one who looked dead. Reuters reported that the prime minister was safe.

iReport: Are you there? Send stories, video.

[Update: 10:11 a.m. ET, 4: 11 p.m Oslo] A second blast was heard in central Oslo shortly after an initial explosion rocked the city, a reporter for Norwegian state broadcaster NRK told CNN Friday. Linda Reinholdsen said there was a state of confusion in the city and several government buildings were affected.

See photos from Norway state TV.

[10 a.m. ET, 4 p.m. Oslo] An explosion rocked a part of central Oslo, Norway, on Friday, state TV reported. State TV broadcaster NRK said on its website that windows in several buildings had been blown out and people were in the street bleeding. News reports suggest the government building has been affected.

[cougarfreak]

What the hell have the Norwegians ever done? Other than having hot blondes, and being good at the Winter Olympics?

[JPhillips]

NRK is reporting that an unknown group called "Helpers of the Global Jihad" have posted a message that this is only the beginning of the reaction to Norwegian periodicals publishing the Muhammed cartoons, according to Andrew Boyle, a journalist in Norway.

Crazy fuckers.

[Rizon]

wtf

[bhlloy]

Sounds initially like they were going hard after the Prime Minister, who was scheduled to speak at the youth camp where the shootings occured. Nuts.

[Lathum]

all in the name of God

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Sounds initially like they were going hard after the Prime Minister, who was scheduled to speak at the youth camp where the shootings occured. Nuts.

Wow. That's interesting... wonder who this was?

[Rizon]

Looks pretty serious ... two bombings and a shooting, separate locations.

edit: looks like they're saying one bombing. BBC had reported a 2nd bomb awhile ago, but probably confusion.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Wow. That's interesting... wonder who this was?

It was Islamic they're thinking. All ties back to that cartoon image of Muhammed that the Norwegian papers ran a couple years back.

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

It was Islamic they're thinking. All ties back to that cartoon image of Muhammed that the Norwegian papers ran a couple years back.

Insane bastards. It's a f***ing cartoon you low life scum.

Edit: Not calling you that DT.

[Rizon]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Insane bastards. It's a f***ing cartoon you low life scum.

Edit: Not calling you that DT.

[cartman]

Bring it.

[molson]

There's a lot more mainstream anti-Islamic and anti-immigration sentiment in Norway then you'd think too.....those rising tensions might explain something that was planned locally, as opposed to from far away, but who knows.

The "youth camp" thing is weird. And I'm reading they made an arrest?

[Rizon]

Originally Posted by molson

The "youth camp" thing is weird. And I'm reading they made an arrest?

The rumor is that it's a blonde haired blue eyed male ... but they haven't been able to confirm it, or it could be misinformation.

[molson]

Originally Posted by cartman

Bring it.

We do need another one of those "post Muhammad's picture day" days. That makes them so much more unhappy than just killing them does.

[Rizon]

I thought this was cool:

"Residents in Oslo are asked via Twitter to unlock their WiFi signals to let trapped people communicate via wireless because phones will jam! "

[Crapshoot]

They don't know for sure. The Jihadist idiots take credit for everything, but in this case, its still unknown what the cause of the attacks was. The cartoons would be kinda random since that was 2 years ago..

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

It was Islamic they're thinking. All ties back to that cartoon image of Muhammed that the Norwegian papers ran a couple years back.

The cartoon image stuff started in Danish papers, so I doubt anyone would target Norway specifically for that reason.

There seems to be an extremist cleric who was arrested or charged within the last week or so in Norway, so that might be the trigger for this attack.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

It was Islamic they're thinking. All ties back to that cartoon image of Muhammed that the Norwegian papers ran a couple years back.

You realize that it was originally Danish right with the cartoons?

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by Ryan S

The cartoon image stuff started in Danish papers, so I doubt anyone would target Norway specifically for that reason.

There seems to be an extremist cleric who was arrested or charged within the last week or so in Norway, so that might be the trigger for this attack.

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

You realize that it was originally Danish right with the cartoons?

Some of these Jihadist dudes can come off as backward and/or stuck in the past. Maybe a few of them thought the Kalmar Union was still intact.

[molson]

There were some suspicion of terrorism arrests in norway last year that were connected to the nyc subway bomb plot. And those people had been under surveillance for a year. So norway has been a target for a while.

[Rizon]

BBC

2124: A terrorism expert tells the BBC that Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami, or the Helpers of the Global Jihad, a terror group that claimed responsibility for the explosion in Oslo, was not behind the attack.

2056: The foreign minister has also confirmed that the man arrested following the shooting on the island is Caucasian.

[sterlingice]

And when it turns out it was some disgruntled Norwegian camp worker who was tired of camp songs and 20 hours of darkness in a day, what then?

SI

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

You realize that it was originally Danish right with the cartoons?

I thought I heard on the news that there was a Norwegian paper that ran them too. I know Norway/Sweden/Denmark busted up a terror-cell in the three countries recently that was planning revenge for it - maybe it was that? Who knows.

Maybe it was right-wing Norwegian nationalists...who knows. Still too early to tell.

[molson]

Maybe its an anti-islamic terrorist.

[Rizon]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

And when it turns out it was some disgruntled Norwegian camp worker who was tired of camp songs and 20 hours of darkness in a day, what then?

SI

BBC

2145: Norway's Justice Minister has just confirmed that the shooter arrested today was Norwegian.

[BillyNYC]

Scary stuff. Of all my travels, Oslo is the one place I felt the absolute safest. It was just comfortable there. Goes to show that no place on earth is safe.

Via Google Maps, looks like the hotel I stayed at in 2009 is less than 1/2 mile from the blast location.

[gstelmack]

Caucasian and Norwegian do not mean non-Islamic. We had Americans fighting with the Taliban, remember?

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

Caucasian and Norwegian do not mean non-Islamic. We had Americans fighting with the Taliban, remember?

That may be, but as of right now, we don't know - assuming its some Muslim nutjob seems absurd until we do.

[Passacaglia]

For those who missed it in the article quoted in the first post of this thread (scroll up if you don't believe me):

Norway also drew the ire of al Qaeda for publishing the controversial political cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that appeared in a Danish newspaper and sparked outrage in the militant Islamic community.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

That may be, but as of right now, we don't know - assuming its some Muslim nutjob seems absurd until we do.

Agreed, just pointing out this info really doesn't mean much either way. Way too early to jump to any conclusions.

[panerd]

Sounds like we are about to get 24 hour news cycles about how whites can cause terror and we need even more security. From what I have read it was some sort of holiday. Seems like an odd time to do a bombing. Isn't the goal to kill a lot of people?

[Critch]

Inkompatibel nettleser | Facebook

Been leaked that this is apparently the guy. A wealthy Norwegian right-winger and World of Warcraft player (according to his facebook).

[Rizon]

Originally Posted by Critch

A wealthy Norwegian right-winger and World of Warcraft player (according to his facebook).

Probably played Alliance.

[Rizon]

Originally Posted by Critch

Inkompatibel nettleser | Facebook

Been leaked that this is apparently the guy. A wealthy Norwegian right-winger and World of Warcraft player (according to his facebook).

If this IS the guy .. geeze .. the depressing, hopeless, end of the world songs he went on a flury posting ...

[molson]

Originally Posted by Critch

Inkompatibel nettleser | Facebook

Been leaked that this is apparently the guy. A wealthy Norwegian right-winger and World of Warcraft player (according to his facebook).

That's the most Norwegian looking guy I've ever seen.

He already has a Wikipedia page:

Anders Behring Breivik - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[JediKooter]

I just recommended he become friends with Casey Anthony.

[Rizon]

Sources listed on wiki page:

Named: The blond Norwegian, 32, arrested over 'holiday island massacre' and linked to Oslo bomb blasts | Mail Online

Pågrepet 32-åring kalte seg selv nasjonalistisk - VG Nett

[molson]

If this is the guy (and damn, that really sucks for him if its not), he made one twitter post, to his one twitter follower:

"One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100 000 who have only interests"

I bet he spent a lot of time coming up with gems like that. Thinking he's all deep. I hope he doesn't end up in this place (if you're going to commit brutal, senseless murder of innocent people, Norway is probably the best country in which to do so):

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-new-jail.html\
http://www.damncoolpictures.com/2010...us-halden.html

[RainMaker]

I've lived in worse apartments than that.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by Lathum

all in the name of Odin

fixed

[JonInMiddleGA]

My Lord, BBC News says police now say "more than 80" dead.

[cougarfreak]

Unbelievable.

[JPhillips]

That's terrible.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

My Lord, BBC News says police now say "more than 80" dead.

Weren't many kids too on that island? There are no words.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Weren't many kids too on that island? There are no words.

Mostly kids has been my understanding (although that's far from me being sure I understand correctly).

[sterlingice]

Odd (hopefully not too heartless) thought from all of this: I can't think of a gun-based mass murder that was more than about 25. I've always wondered why there have never been any of this magnitude when we have weapons that can kill so many so quickly.

SI

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Odd (hopefully not too heartless) thought from all of this: I can't think of a gun-based mass murder that was more than about 25. I've always wondered why there have never been any of this magnitude when we have weapons that can kill so many so quickly.SI

Not far from my wondering aloud here at home. The count is exceptionally high by my recollection but it's also a fairly unusual situation for an attack. We likened it to something like the annual scouting summer camp my son attends, I can definitely imagine (with considerable horror) how that kind of scenario could be ripe for devastation, a perfect storm of an awful sort.

[Peregrine]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Odd (hopefully not too heartless) thought from all of this: I can't think of a gun-based mass murder that was more than about 25. I've always wondered why there have never been any of this magnitude when we have weapons that can kill so many so quickly.

SI

Yeah, it is hard to believe but according to CNN's details from someone who was there - they had gathered 700 kids and young adults in a single room to tell them about the attack when the shooter arrived, dressed as a police officer. He asked to address them, to tell them more about the bombing, and when they were all sitting around him just started shooting. Plus the fact that it is an island (maybe a small one) made it hard for people to escape.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

Yeah, it is hard to believe but according to CNN's details from someone who was there - they had gathered 700 kids and young adults in a single room to tell them about the attack when the shooter arrived, dressed as a police officer. He asked to address them, to tell them more about the bombing, and when they were all sitting around him just started shooting. Plus the fact that it is an island (maybe a small one) made it hard for people to escape.

Yeah, they said kids were jumping in the water to try to swim to safety (though the main land is a good ways away), and he was standing along the shore shooting them. Just horrible.

BTW, there are rumors of another man wanted, but you never know in a situation like this how much is rumor and how much is truth.