“Norway’s intelligence police agency said in February that Islamic extremism was a major threat to the country, AFP reported….Krekar had warned that ‘Norway will pay a heavy price’ if he were deported.”
“Bomb blast rocks government buildings in Oslo, causing deaths and injuries,” from Newscore, July 22:
OSLO — A massive bomb rocked government buildings in the Norwegian capital Friday, killing several people, and there were reports that a man dressed as a policeman opened fire with an automatic weapon at a young people’s camp on a nearby island, signaling potentially coordinated terror attacks.
Sky News said the reports from the island of Utoya had not been confirmed by police but suggested four dead and others injured at the camp, which is affiliated with the country’s Labour Party.
The gunman reportedly was wearing a police uniform and arrived at the island by boat from the mainland, carrying an automatic weapon. Sky said there were an estimated 700 people on the island aged 15-25.
It was not clear if the shooting was still ongoing.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the late afternoon explosion in Oslo’s government quarter near the prime minister’s office, the finance ministry and the country’s biggest tabloid newspaper, Verdens Gang (VG).
However, Norway’s intelligence police agency said in February that Islamic extremism was a major threat to the country, AFP reported.
Sky News sources said survivors reported a strong smell of sulfur, which led police to investigate whether the blast was caused by a car bomb packed with fertilizer nitrate.
Sky reported that earlier this year, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula released a bomb-making handbook which contained notes on how to build fertilizer bombs. […]
AFP reported that intelligence police chief Janne Kristiansen said last February that Islamic extremism was a major threat to the country and “our main priority and our main concern.”
Norway, a member of NATO, has some 500 troops in Afghanistan.
Last year police arrested three Muslim men based in Norway who were suspected of planning an attack using explosives, AFP reported.
Norwegian prosecutors earlier this month also filed a terrorism charge against Mullah Krekar, founder of the Kurdish Islamist group Ansar al-Islam, who was accused of threatening a politician with death over his potential deportation from the country.
Krekar had warned that “Norway will pay a heavy price” if he were deported.