BREAKING NEWS: Explosion at Norway Prime Ministers Office

[Edi]

The shooter at Utöya has been arrested, according to Yle News (Finnish Broadcasting Company). By all indications he is a local and apparently has a connection to the Oslo bombing, so this may well be a domestic terror attack.

Remains to be seen, but I expect the news will keep getting updated non-stop until there is more accurate info.

Last count is 7 confirmed dead in Oslo and an as yet unconfirmed number of 20+ dead at Utöya.

[Knife]

My sympathies.

[Zixinus]

Anyone have any idea why this happened? Does Norway have some big political pressure mounting up or something?

[Edi]

Not that way. This was a surprise. It's still up in the air as to what the ultimate motive was, but at least one of the perpetrators (the arrested shooter) is Norwegian.

There may have been more than one if the nrk.no site articles are accurate. There are 9 confirmed dead on the Utöya island and eyewitness accounts (not officially verified yet) put the number at 20+.

[General Mung Beans]

Anyone have any idea why this happened? Does Norway have some big political pressure mounting up or something?

Well there is a Norweigian contingent in Afghanistan and Zawahiri threatened Norway along with various other Western countries (assuming it was the Islamists which is the most likely group) . Nothing in particular I'd say, except since it was considered "low risk" it was probably easier to attack.

[Agent Sorchus]

Norway just came out in favor of the Palestinian State proposal before the UN. They have at least talked about more support for North East African nations for drought and famine support. They have recently said that other nations should start talks with the Somalian Islamic groups (the group that is considered Somalia's Taliban. I don't remember the proper name.)

So of course the conspiracy theorists are already putting the blame on Israel.

[Hamstray]

Oh, and also don't forget the Westboro Baptists as suspects they threatened Norway because of gay marriage or something like that.

[Edi]

It's still too early and too confused to start laying the blame on any specific door. I know the American right wing is already taking it as a given that Islamic terrorism is the reason, but the Norwegian police are so far saying that they don't know who or even why and they won't say a whole lot on that until they've interrogated the suspect in custody.

In any case this attack was big enough that it took a fair amount of logistics to pull off, meaning this is not just some single crackpot out of nowhere who did it. Not unless they had access to serious explosives (or stolen explosives).

We'll see how it goes. Islamic terrorism may be the culprit, but it just as well may not. The Myyrmäki bombing in Finland back in 2002 turned out to be an entirely domestic incident, for example.

[weemadando]

Has organised crime calmed down since the big issues of the late 90s and early 00s?

I mean, attacking government buildings like this isn't exactly their style, but when the groups have a history of shooting off AT weapons at each other in public...

[General Mung Beans]

It's still too early and too confused to start laying the blame on any specific door. I know the American right wing is already taking it as a given that Islamic terrorism is the reason, but the Norwegian police are so far saying that they don't know who or even why and they won't say a whole lot on that until they've interrogated the suspect in custody.

In any case this attack was big enough that it took a fair amount of logistics to pull off, meaning this is not just some single crackpot out of nowhere who did it. Not unless they had access to serious explosives (or stolen explosives).

We'll see how it goes. Islamic terrorism may be the culprit, but it just as well may not. The Myyrmäki bombing in Finland back in 2002 turned out to be an entirely domestic incident, for example.

Well jihadist groups have already claimed responsibility. Of course they could just be bragging.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/23/world ... ml?_r=1&hp

A terror group, Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami, or the Helpers of the Global Jihad, issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, according to Will McCants, a terrorism analyst at C.N.A., 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, according to Mr. McCants’ translation, apparently referring to a bombing in Sweden in December 2010. “What you see is only the beginning, and there is more to come.” The claim could not be confirmed. It is not uncommon for terrorist groups to advance claims of responsibility for high-profile attacks, only to have the claims prove to be spurious.

[Edi]

Since the Norwegian police are actually giving preliminary statements about the attack being domestic and possibly by a lone wolf attacker at that, those jihadis are likely bragging and American media reports that have a vested interest in pushing the Islamic terror angle should be taken with a freight train load of salt.

[General Mung Beans]

Since the Norwegian police are actually giving preliminary statements about the attack being domestic and possibly by a lone wolf attacker at that, those jihadis are likely bragging and American media reports that have a vested interest in pushing the Islamic terror angle should be taken with a freight train load of salt.

Fox News maybe, but New York Times doesn't have any such agenda.

[FSTargetDrone]

Oh, and also don't forget the Westboro Baptists as suspects they threatened Norway because of gay marriage or something like that.

Repellent as they are, the WBC doesn't have a history of using violence, but you can bet they will release a statement denouncing the victims in this incident.

[Lord Zentei]

Since the Norwegian police are actually giving preliminary statements about the attack being domestic and possibly by a lone wolf attacker at that, those jihadis are likely bragging and American media reports that have a vested interest in pushing the Islamic terror angle should be taken with a freight train load of salt.

Fox News maybe, but New York Times doesn't have any such agenda.

Maybe not, but they're not immune to the bandwagon effect.

We need to reserve judgement on this until the facts are in.

[General Mung Beans]

Oh, and also don't forget the Westboro Baptists as suspects they threatened Norway because of gay marriage or something like that.

Repellent as they are, the WBC doesn't have a history of using violence, but you can bet they will release a statement denouncing the victims in this incident.

I think what he said was supposed to be sarcastic. But yes, one can bet pretty much in any natural disaster or violent incident or death of a famous person Westboro will claim its all a punishment for tolerance of homosexuality.

[LadyTevar]

My prayers go out to the families of those injured and killed. My respect goes to the Norwegian authorities, who are seemingly calm and collected despite the sudden attack.

Latest news says the shooter was a 32-yr old Norwegian native, and that police found unexploded bombs on the island itself. That might explain why the shooter went on a rampage, the bomb he had misfired.

[General Mung Beans]

+http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002651290254

The facebook page of the suspect.

Link Broken -- Lady T.

[CaptainChewbacca]

And yet, all my news channels are covering 'breaking news' of the debt compromise.

[LadyTevar]

Gen. Mung, where did you get that information, as I have found nothing on the news so far stating a name for the suspect?

[General Mung Beans]

Gen. Mung, where did you get that information, as I have found nothing on the news so far stating a name for the suspect?

It was on an another forum. I don't like the forum personally due to most of its members being racists (I wouldn't be allowed there technically since its largely "Germanics" only) but they have Norweigian members so they might have the "scoop".

[General Mung Beans]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ds-newsxml

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

Named by Norwegian media as Anders Behring Breivik

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 11:55 PM on 22nd July 2011

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The 32-year-old Norwegian man arrested for gunning down children on the holiday island of Utoya has been named locally as Anders Behring Breivik.

Described as 6ft tall and blond, he is reported to have arrived on the island of Utoya and opened fire after beckoning several young people over in his native Norwegian tongue.

Reports suggest he was also seen loitering around the site of the bomb blast in Oslo two hours before the island incident - and also before the capital's explosion.
Crime scene: The 32-year-old Norwegian used this white van to drive onto the island of Utoya

Crime scene: The 32-year-old Norwegian used this white van to drive onto the island of Utoya

More than 30 are believed to have been killed - seven in Oslo and between 25 to 30 on Utoya Island, 50 miles north of the capital

It is not yet known what his motives were - whether he has been radicalised and was part of a militant Muslim group waging Jihad or was alternatively trying to further a home-grown political cause.

The Oslo bomb blast was outside a government office, while the island of Utoya is reportedly owned by the Norwegian Labour Party, as is the boat he boarded in his white van to reach it.


More...

MASSACRE AT KIDS' CAMP: More than 30 feared dead as terrorist opens fire at Norwegian summer camp and car bomb devastates Oslo

BBC's Newsnight security correspondent Gordon Corera said a youth rally was not a usual type of target for an Islamist terrorist.

He added that this was a factor that suggested the attacks may have been carried out by someone with a national agenda.

But he also pointed out that the car bombing in Oslo would have been 'a lot for someone working alone to achieve'.

The incidents come as social tensions with Norway heighten in recent months over the country’s perceived stance on Islamic issues.
Injured: Seven people were killed in the Oslo bomb blast (pictured)

Fatal: Seven people were killed in the Oslo bomb blast (pictured)

Though a long-standing Nato member, Norway has not attracted many enemies because it has tended to stay out of international conflicts.

However, it has recently increased its military presence in Muslim countries such as Afghanistan or Libya, a move bound to anger fanatics.

There was anger among some of the 150,000 Muslims living in Norway when a newspaper reproduced the controversial Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in January last year.

Last night ‘Helpers of the Global Jihad’ posted a message on the internet claiming the bombing was ‘only the beginning’ of the retaliation over the cartoons.

But this has been dismissed by some commentators as a publicity stunt.

Other Scandinavian countries have faced radical Islamic attacks in the past.

Violence erupted in Denmark after a newspaper published a cartoon of the Prophet wearing a turban in the shape of a bomb in 2005.

And last December an Islamic suicide bomber, who was radicalised in Britain, set off a bomb in Stockholm.

Police would not speculate on who was responsible for the attack or whether international groups were involved.

But the country is also in the midst of grappling 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 is deported from the Scandinavian country.

The indictment centred on statements that Mullah Krekar - the founder of the Kurdish Islamist group Ansar al-Islam - made to various news media, including American network NBC.

Jihadist groups have also made recent threats to Norway over plans to expel Mullah Krekar, the founder of the Kurdish Islamist group Ansar al-Islam.

Norway's support of NATO's mission in Libya also earned it enemies, Bob Ayers, a former U.S. intelligence officer, told AP.

'Norwegians are in Afghanistan. They're in Tripoli. They reprinted the cartoons,' he said.

Many intelligence analysts said they had never heard of Helpers of Global Jihad, which took initial credit. Ansar al-Islam also took credit on some jihadist web sites.

And Ayers said it appeared more than one person was involved.
Wrecked: The blast in Oslo was outside a government office

Wrecked: The blast in Oslo was outside a government office

Asked at a press conference in Tripoli about Libya's reaction to the events in Oslo, government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said, 'We never support any acts of terrorism whatsoever.'

But he suggested NATO's policies could have prompted the attack, saying, 'NATO is planting terrorism in the hearts of many. This is unfortunate and sad.'

Authorities in Norway and other Scandinavian countries have focused on anti-terrorism tactics that frustrate countries like the U.S. that are more aggressive about making arrests.

Scandinavian authorities fight terrorism by disrupting plots, sometimes telling suspects they know what they're up to, and warning them of the consequences.

Terror convictions are also difficult to get because of scepticism in Scandinavian courts toward cases built on intent - as most terrorism trials are - and a demand for more evidence than in the U.S. and many other places.

Europe has been the target of numerous terror plots by Islamist militants.

The deadliest was the 2004 Madrid train bombings, when shrapnel-filled bombs exploded, killing 191 people and wounding about 1,800.

A year later, suicide bombers killed 52 rush-hour commuters in London aboard three subway trains and a bus.

And in 2006, U.S. and British intelligence officials thwarted one of the largest plots yet - a plan to explode nearly a dozen trans-Atlantic airliners.

In October, the U.S. State Department advised American citizens living or travelling in Europe to take more precautions following reports that terrorists may be plotting attacks on a European city.

Some countries went on heightened alert after the May 2 killing of Osama bin Laden.

Intelligence analysts said they doubted the attack was linked to bin Laden's death.

'Al-Qaida would have targeted something closer to U.S. interests if it was related to bin Laden,' Ayers said.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1SsZC4guc

Same guy I mentioned.

[Spoonist]

Going specifically for kids, thats low.

Since the Norwegian police are actually giving preliminary statements about the attack being domestic and possibly by a lone wolf attacker at that, those jihadis are likely bragging and American media reports that have a vested interest in pushing the Islamic terror angle should be taken with a freight train load of salt.

Fox News maybe, but New York Times doesn't have any such agenda.

You might be thinking about NYT of a decade ago, the present one is not like it used to be. Its obvious that Edi is right.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ds-newsxml.

Would be better to use local media:
http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/arti ... d=10080610
The perp is a selfproclaimed nationalist and anti-islamic. +1 for NYT irony...

[Admiral Drason]

That article seems to really want to draw the lines to Islamic terrorism that just don't really exist as of yet. Just because Islamic terrorists have a motive to carry the attack out doesn't mean they did it.

[Tanasinn]

The Daily Mail, if I recall, is a tabloid and should probably be considered a dubious source at best. Certainly there's more than one reason for some psycho to bomb and shoot up civilians - Loughner wasn't a Muslim radical. Neither was Cho.

[Lord Zentei]

So, a nationalist. I was wondering whether it might be a neo-Nazi earlier.

I haven't seen anything about this in the English speaking media yet. Tsk.