MAJOR TERROR BLAST IN OSLO, NORWAY–
At least 8 people were injured in the massive blast today. (Hypervocal)
Via twitter: A reporter says he has seen dead people on the ground – people crying.
(Hypervocal)
The blasts may have to do with the Muhammad cartoons.
At least one fatality!
Norway’s Prime Minister’s office was targeted in Central Oslo.
(Aften Posten)
Via USA Today— The Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten quotes witnesses as saying Oslo’s Market Street is “full of chaos” with people “running around bewildered,” some with blood on their faces and hands. “You can smell the sulfur fumes,” the newspaper’s reporter says.
Reuters has more:
A huge explosion wrecked government buildings in central Oslo on Friday including Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg’s office, injuring several people, a Reuters journalist said from the scene.
The cause of the blast was unknown but the tangled wreckage of a car was outside one building and the damage appeared consistent to witnesses with that from car bombs. Police and fire officials declined comment on the cause.
The blast blew out most windows on the 17-storey building housing Stoltenberg’s office, as well as nearby ministries including the oil ministry, which was on fire. Heavy debris littered the streets and smoke rose over the city centre.
A Reuters correspondent counted at least eight injured people. Norwegian news agency NTB said that Stoltenberg was safe.
The oil ministry near the prime minister’s office is on fire.
Here’s another photo from twitter.
The jihadi forums are reportedly celebrating the blasts.
Update: According to The Guardian, 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.
The NY Times has more on the terror group:
A terror group, Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami (the Helpers of the Global Jihad), issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, according to Will McCants, a terrorism analyst at CNA, 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, apparently referred to a bombing in Sweden in December 2010, according to Mr McCants’ translation. “What you see is only the beginning, and there is more to come.” The claim could not be confirmed.
More…The death toll is up to 7.
