Twin terror attacks shock Norway
Norway has been hit by twin attacks - a massive bomb blast in the capital and a shooting attack on young people at a governing Labour Party youth camp.
At least seven people were killed in the bombing, which inflicted huge damage on government buildings in Oslo.
At least 10 more died at the camp, on an island outside Oslo, police say. One witness said he had seen 20 bodies.
Police arrested the suspected gunman at the camp and the government have confirmed that he is Norwegian.
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, whose Oslo offices were among those damaged by the bomb, described the attacks as "bloody and cowardly" in a news conference.
He said that Norway had been "shaken by evil" but that Norwegian democracy and ideals would not be destroyed.
"We are a small nation and a proud nation. No-one will bomb us to silence no-one will shoot us to silence," he said.
Norwegian media reports said the shootings on the island, on the Tyrifjorden lake, were carried out by a man in police uniform.
Police later said that he was also linked with the bomb attack. Reports described him as tall and blond.
No group has said it carried out the attacks.
One witness at the island said he had seen more than 20 bodies there, but police have not confirmed this.
Hours after the bomb struck Oslo, officials said some people were still inside the damaged buildings, some of which were on fire.
Television footage from the government quarter showed rubble and glass from shattered windows in the streets and smoke from the fires drifting across the city. The wreckage of at least one car could be seen.
All roads into the city centre have been closed, said national broadcaster NRK, as security officials evacuated people from the area, fearing another blast.
Egil Vrekke, Assistant Chief Constable of Oslo police told the BBC the rescue operation in Oslo was ongoing.
"We are issuing warnings just [to] make sure people are not in the area in case there are further explosions," he told the BBC.
"We have cordoned off large areas. There are bomb experts at the scene investigating whether there are other devices in the area."
A spokesman for Oslo University hospital said 10 people had been taken there for treatment, some with serious injuries.
A few hours after the explosion, the gunman opened fire at a camp in Utoeya for young members of the Labour Party.
Andre Scheie, who said he went to the island after the shooting to help evacuate people, told reporters he had seen at least 20 bodies.
NRK journalist Ole Torp said there were reports the gunman had been armed with a handgun, an automatic weapon and a shotgun.
"He travelled on the ferry boat from the mainland over to that little inland island posing as a police officer, saying he was there to do research in connection with the bomb blasts," he told the BBC.
"He asked people to gather round and then he started shooting, so these young people fled into the bushes and woods and some even swam off the island to get to safety."
Mr Stoltenberg had been due to visit the camp on Saturday. He told TV2 the situation there was critical.
Police have not yet commented on the number of victims, but police spokesman Anders Frydenberg told the BBC that soldiers were now on the island.
Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store, who visited the camp on Thursday, praised those who were attending.
"The country has no finer youth than young people who go for a summer camp doing politics, doing discussions, doing training, doing football, and then they experience this absolutely horrendous act of violence."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14256712
Terrorism comes to Norway.
Terrorism comes to Norway.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Terrorism comes to Norway.
Domestic terror attack it looks like.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Terrorism comes to Norway.
I saw a little bit about this on the news this morning; at the time only the bombing attack had taken place....
Attacks against multiple targets in rapid succession is a hallmark of Al Qaeda; but that of course doesn't mean that some other groups haven't decided to ape that signature....
Scum regardless; it's difficult to imagine more cowardly filth than the type that would mow down children in a summer camp.
Attacks against multiple targets in rapid succession is a hallmark of Al Qaeda; but that of course doesn't mean that some other groups haven't decided to ape that signature....
Scum regardless; it's difficult to imagine more cowardly filth than the type that would mow down children in a summer camp.
Re: Terrorism comes to Norway.
Hang the bastard.The suspected gunman was arrested at the camp and the government have confirmed that he is Norwegian.
Police have said that he is also linked with the bomb attack. Reports described him as tall and blond
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Terrorism comes to Norway.
The scumbag didn't even have the decency to kill himself after this...
It's very odd...
Psychos who try to assassinate government officials and psychos who machine gun children are usually two different profiles...
It's very odd...
Psychos who try to assassinate government officials and psychos who machine gun children are usually two different profiles...
Re: Terrorism comes to Norway.
80 dead at the camp.
Pure evil.
Pure evil.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
~ Carl Sagan
Re: Terrorism comes to Norway.
No argument there. Unbelievable.80 dead at the camp.
Pure evil.
I'm still having a hard time understanding how a single gunman unleashes this kind of carnage and doesn't wind up being cut down by the responding police...
Re: Terrorism comes to Norway.
And of course conservative media have egg all over their faces after having done everything they could to link these incidents to Islamic terrorism, when the guy is a Christian conservative nationalist who has contributed to anti-Islam websites.
Re: Terrorism comes to Norway.
Ah religion! Where would we be without it?
Why is it that when Miley Cyrus gets naked and licks a hammer it's 'art' and 'edgy' but when I do it I'm 'drunk' and 'banned from the hardware store'?
Re: Terrorism comes to Norway.
Missed the bit where this nut was motivated by religion...Ah religion! Where would we be without it?
Got a link on that?
Re: Terrorism comes to Norway.
Nothing on religion as of yet...
Norway’s national broadcaster, NRK, has named the suspect in the attacks as Anders Behring Breivik.
NRK and other Norwegian media have also posted pictures of the blond and blue-eyed Norwegian.
According to the TV2 channel, Breivik has links to right-wing extremists and possessed two weapons registered in his name.
A police official said the 32-year-old, who was arrested at the camp on Utoeya island, appears to have acted alone in both attacks, and that "it seems like that this is not linked to any international terrorist organisations at all".
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because that information had not been officially released by Norway's police.
"It seems it's not Islamic-terror related," the official said.
"This seems like a madman's work."
The official said the attack "is probably more Norway's Oklahoma City than it is Norway's World Trade Centre".
Domestic terrorists carried out the 1995 attack on a federal building in Oklahoma City, while foreign terrorists were responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The official added, however, "it's still just hours since the incident happened. And the investigation is going on with all available resources".
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/a-madmans-w ... z1SteqjOpk
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Terrorism comes to Norway.
I saw that article on line... a lone nutter apparently...
It'll be a few days before a fuller picture emerges....
Lots of unanswered questions at this point...
It'll be a few days before a fuller picture emerges....
Lots of unanswered questions at this point...
Re: Terrorism comes to Norway.
I didn't mean to imply anything regarding his motivation Jim. I was simply responding to Scooter's post.Lord Jim wrote:Missed the bit where this nut was motivated by religion...Ah religion! Where would we be without it?
Got a link on that?
Why is it that when Miley Cyrus gets naked and licks a hammer it's 'art' and 'edgy' but when I do it I'm 'drunk' and 'banned from the hardware store'?
Re: Terrorism comes to Norway.
What a tragedy. My heart goes out to the people of Norway.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké
Re: Terrorism comes to Norway.
Usually - although my suspicion in this case is that the psych profile of this alleged terrorist (for that is what he is) would parallel humanoids like Eric Rudolph, or the proud assassins of abortion clinic doctors and secular-minded churchfolk - Zealots who feel completely justified that they are doing their master's work (thus only God is fit to judge them), and thus aren't seeking the denouement of 'suicide by cop' after their subjectively exciting killing spree, a common fate for the garden-variety psychopath.Lord Jim wrote:
Psychos who try to assassinate government officials and psychos who machine gun children are usually two different profiles...
No doubt this Aryan dominionist's hidden connection to a vast Muslim conspiracy or some other straw bogeyman will shortly be made manifest on a Murdoch-owned media outlet, for the edification of those who struggle mightily to add pairs of 2's together and require firm intellectual guidance in their daily affairs.
;>)
Hitman for the Riboflavin Tong
Re: Terrorism comes to Norway.
Of course, conservative commentators are still blaming Muslims for this, calling it a reaction to Muslim immigration and unwillingness to assimilate. Why am I not surprised?
Re: Terrorism comes to Norway.
I read on the DAILY MAIL that the arse was calling kids out of their hiding spots by saying he was a cop and everything would be alright. Then he would spray them with bullets.
I wish him nothing but immense pain for many, many years to come.
I wish him nothing but immense pain for many, many years to come.
Bah!
Re: Terrorism comes to Norway.
I heard something similar on the news...
That he was dressed as a cop, and gathered them together under the pretext of having been sent to provide security for them after the earlier bombing...
And then opened fire....
That might explain how on earth one person was to kill so many... but even so...
Apparently there was no actual security at this camp, but what about adult counselors? (and some of these kids were as old as 19) The guy had to stop from time to time to reload or switch weapons, why didn't anyone try to over power him?
That he was dressed as a cop, and gathered them together under the pretext of having been sent to provide security for them after the earlier bombing...
And then opened fire....
That might explain how on earth one person was to kill so many... but even so...
Apparently there was no actual security at this camp, but what about adult counselors? (and some of these kids were as old as 19) The guy had to stop from time to time to reload or switch weapons, why didn't anyone try to over power him?
Re: Terrorism comes to Norway.
Panic Jim, panic. Kids are not used to seeing their friends gunned down in front of them, escape would be their only thought.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”