At least 17 dead in Norway attacks

A BOMB ripped open buildings in the heart of Norway’s government yesterday before a man dressed as a police officer opened fire at an island youth camp connected to the ruling party, leaving at least 17 dead in the attacks.

Seven people were killed in the bomb blast and Oslo police said nine or 10 people were killed at the camp on Utoya island, where the youth wing of the Labour Party was holding a summer camp for hundreds of teenagers.

Acting Police Chief Sveinung Sponheim said the two attacks were believed to be linked — the Norwegian man arrested for the shooting had been spotted in Oslo before the explosion there.

Reports described him as tall and blond.

Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store told the BBC the country was in “deep, deep shock”.

“Norway is today dealing with a double attack on its democracy, on its government buildings and on its finest youth wanting to engage in politics.”

Aerial images broadcast by Norway’s TV2 showed members of a SWAT team dressed in black arriving at the island in boats and running up the dock. Behind them, people stripped down to their underwear swam away from the island toward shore, some using flotation devices.

Sponheim wouldn’t give any details about the shooting suspect, who he said was dressed in a police uniform when he opened fire into a crowd of youths.

The youth wing of Stoltenberg’s Labour Party organises an annual summer camp on the island, 60 miles northwest of Oslo.

Stoltenberg had been scheduled to speak there tomorrow.

“There are at least five people who have been seriously wounded and have been transported to a local hospital,” said Party spokesman Per Gunnar Dahl.

He said the shooting “created a panic situation where people started to swim from the island” to escape.

In Oslo, the capital and the city where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded, the bombing left a square covered in twisted metal, shattered glass and documents expelled from surrounding buildings.

Most of the windows in the 20-floor high-rise where Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and his administration work were shattered. Other buildings damaged house government offices and the headquarters of some of Norway’s leading newspapers.

Stoltenberg was working at home Friday and was unharmed.

Irish Ambassador to Norway, Gary Ansbro said they had “checked on all the people who they knew were working downtown and they were all safe. We don’t have any information either of any Irish injured”.

Police said the explosion was caused by “one or more” bombs. They later sealed off the nearby offices of broadcaster TV 2 after discovering a suspicious package.

The US, EU, Nato and Britain, have all condemned the bombing.

The attacks come as Norway grapples with a home-grown 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.

Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store praised those attending the island camp.

“The country has no finer youth than young people who go for a summer camp doing politics, doing discussions,” he said.