Explosion near Prime Minister's office in Oslo

Norway suffered dual attacks on Friday when powerful explosions shook the government center here and, shortly after, a gunman stalked youths at an island summer camp for young members of the governing Labor Party.

The police arrested a Norwegian in connection with both attacks, which killed at least 91 people and stunned this ordinarily placid nation.

Jul 22, 2011 19:54 IST

Norway suffered dual attacks on Friday when powerful explosions shook the government center here and, shortly after, a gunman stalked youths at an island summer camp for young members of the governing Labor Party.

The police arrested a Norwegian in connection with both attacks, which killed at least 91 people and stunned this ordinarily placid nation.

The explosions, from one or more bombs, turned Oslo, a tidy Scandinavian capital, into a scene reminiscent of terrorist attacks in Beirut or Baghdad or Oklahoma City, panicking people and blowing out windows of several government buildings, including one housing the office of the Norwegian prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, who was unharmed.
As the investigations continued, the police asked people to leave the center of Oslo, stay indoors and limit their cellphone use. They also said they would initiate border checks.
The attacks bewildered a nation better known for its active diplomacy and peacekeeping missions than as a target for extremists.

American counterterrorism officials cautioned that Norway's own homegrown extremists, with unknown grievances, could be responsible for the attacks.
The gunman who killed at least 80 people at an island youth camp northwest of Oslo used his disguise to lure in his victims, then shot them twice to make sure they were dead, survivors said in the village of Sundvollen, where they were taken after the massacre.
Norway is a member of the NATO alliance and has a small fighting contingent in Afghanistan. It was one of several countries named by Ayman al-Zawahri, the leader of Al Qaeda, as potential targets for attack.

Muslim leaders in Norway swiftly condemned the attacks. "This is our homeland, this is my homeland; I condemn these attacks and the Islamic Council of Norway condemns these attacks, whoever is behind them," said Mehtab Afsar, secretary general of the Islamic Council of Norway.
Terrorism specialists said that even if the authorities ultimately ruled out terrorism as the cause of Friday's assaults, other kinds of groups or individuals were mimicking Al Qaeda's signature brutality and multiple attacks.
The blast comes as Norway grapples with a home-grown terror plot linked to Al Qaeda. 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.
Terrorism has also been a concern in neighbouring Denmark since an uproar over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad six years ago. Danish authorities say they have foiled several terror plots linked to the 2005 newspaper cartoons that triggered protests in Muslim countries. Last month, a Danish appeals court on Wednesday sentenced a Somali man to 10 years in prison for breaking into the home of the cartoonist.
The country's public broadcaster, NRK, showed video of a blackened car lying on its side amid the debris.
A man helps a wounded woman evacuating a building after an explosion near government buildings in Norway's capital Oslo.
Two women are seen leaving as rescue workers arrive to help the injured following an explosion in Oslo, Norway.
A woman is carried by emergency workers at the scene after an explosion in Oslo, Norway.
A wounded woman is brought ashore opposite Utaoya island (in the distance) after being rescued from a gunman who went on a killing rampage.
A picture taken on July 22, 2011 shows damaged building in a street of Oslo after an explosion near government buildings.
A person wounded in the shooting at the Labour Youth League summer camp in Utoeya is stretchered off an helicopter upon arrival at an Oslo hospital.
A woman covered in blood is taken by the arm after two bombs rocked the Norwegian capital.