Terrorism in Oslo

[Pearl]

There was an explosion in downtown Oslo, Norway and a shooting at a youth camp on an island west of the capital. Norwegian police believe they are related. As of 1:53 EST, seven are dead and two are wounded. According to some tweets on Twitter, Helpers of the Global Jihad are claiming responsibility, but some say it might be Do It Yourself terrorism. Also, the shooter at the youth camp was said to be a blonde Norwegian.

The Daily Telegraph is updating its website every minute or so about this:

Oslo explosion: live coverage - Telegraph

[Pearl]

Here's information on the shooter at Utoya and what group he could be part of:

19.00 London-based Exclusive Analysis risk consultancy said the man in the Utoya incident apparently infiltrated the party gathering on the pretence that he had been sent by police as a security measure in the wake of the Oslo explosion.

As such, it is likely he was ethnically Norwegian. This could indicate the involvement of a far-right group rather than an Islamist group, though it is also the case that the Labour Party would be a favourable target for Islamist groups due to its role in authorising Norwegian military deployments in Afghanistan.

UPDATE:
Now tweets are saying the Helpers of the Global Jihad said they did claim responsibility, and to wait for the official claim.

[yolland]

PM Stoltenberg is speaking on TV now apparently?? though I'm not finding any live coverage online...

[kramwest1]

Ugh. One person in custody.

[deep]

in 24 - 48 hours there should be better information

this is one of those cases, where the rush to be first can easily get wrong information circulated.

the pictures I have seen look terrible, sorry for all the loss of life and injuries.

[Pearl]

Originally Posted by yolland

PM Stoltenberg is speaking on TV now apparently?? though I'm not finding any live coverage online...

So far I found this about what he said:

Our answer is more democracy, more openness to show that we will not be stopped by this kind of violence. At the same time we shouldn't be naive, we should understand that violence can attack our society - we've seen that today."

[financeguy]

Cowardly attacks. Norway is an easy target.

[patternshirt170]

This is taken from my Twitter feed and so it's all unconfirmed but a picture is forming no matter; Police believe it to be the one guy.. and look I hate to type this, but... sigh... he's a white dude, typically 'Nordic' captured not wounded by all accounts...

To me, this smells like a McVeigh mixed with the VA Tech shooting. That latter part was the focus... Set off the car bomb, and remember this is during a national holiday when there are not so many people around to begin with. The Distraction. Then take the mere 40minute trip to this island, ie. the easy target while the authorities, SWATs, Police EMS are busy with the city carnage.... it took ages for them to get SF onto that island...

Norway attacks - live coverage | World news | guardian.co.uk

Vile. The latter incident reminds me of the mass spree shooting in Tasmania a few years back.... just sans the initial bomb..

Port Arthur massacre (Australia) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Irvine511]

vile.

incredibly sorry for everyone affected.

[financeguy]

Originally Posted by patternshirt170

This is taken from my Twitter feed and so it's all unconfirmed but a picture is forming no matter; Police believe it to be the one guy.. and look I hate to type this, but... sigh... he's a white dude, typically 'Nordic' captured not wounded by all accounts...

I don't quite understand. Why do you hate to type that he is a white dude?

[BVS]

Originally Posted by patternshirt170

Police believe it to be the one guy.. and look I hate to type this, but... sigh... he's a white dude, typically 'Nordic' captured not wounded by all accounts...

]

Are some upset that this ISN'T the work of an Islamic terrorist?

[Earnie Shavers]

I think you're both misreading that (or at least hope you are).

[BVS]

Originally Posted by Earnie Shavers

I think you're both misreading that (or at least hope you are).

I hope so, but I just finished reading comments on CNN.com where people were upset and calling this a cover up

[JamietheEdgefan]

Originally Posted by BVS

Are some upset that this ISN'T the work of an Islamic terrorist?

Maybe people think this was a 'homegrown' terrorist? In that case, i could see how that would trouble people (in fact personally i think people being 'recruited' from within Norway is more complex and worrying than some outside force carrying this off).
But if people are just complaining about this being a 'cover up', then that is pretty weird

Anyway, my condolences to everyone hurt by this attack. It saddens me that we live in an age where people still think killing innocents is the right thing to do...

[patternshirt170]

Originally Posted by BVS

I hope so, but I just finished reading comments on CNN.com where people were upset and calling this a cover up

I hate typing it because there will be a sense of "oh really just a local nut then" amongst the FAUX salivators...

[coolian2]

Originally Posted by patternshirt170

I hate typing it because there will be a sense of "oh really just a local nut then" amongst the FAUX salivators...

if by faux you mean fox news, you've badly misjudged this forum.

[patternshirt170]

Originally Posted by coolian2

if by faux you mean fox news, you've badly misjudged this forum.

How so??

.. yeah well talk about misreading... NO. I meant outwith this forum... I meant generally, out there, beyond these 'ere walls your usual suspects won't have quite the story they thought was unfolding...

edit case in point;
http://twitpic.com/5u6n2l

[yolland]

The choice of targets seems rather strange and unexpected, regardless of whether extreme right or extreme Islamist connections are being considered. (I'm under the impression that the extreme right in Norway consists primarily of xenophobic elements, but I don't know much about Scandinavian politics, so please correct me if I'm wrong.) I have also seen 'loony loner' theories put forward, but a car bomb that powerful...again, would seem highly unexpected. But like deep said, no one's really going to know anything for another 24 hours or so anyway.

I haven't yet been able to make it through a description of how the youth camp shootings were carried out without turning away from the text in disgust. Fucking sick bastard.

[financeguy]

There's an article up on Wikipedia already about the alleged suspect.

[financeguy]

Originally Posted by yolland

(I'm under the impression that the extreme right in Norway consists primarily of xenophobic elements, but I don't know much about Scandinavian politics, so please correct me if I'm wrong.) .

In Scandinavian countries there has been some degree of a backlash against immigration in recent years. For example, the right wing True Finns party had its most successful election in years (ever?) in the 2011 Finnish elections.

On the other hand, the European extreme right in general is split on the question of who or what constitutes the biggest enemy of the white race is: some tend to be motivated by xenophobia against Asians/Muslims and/or Africans, others are anti-semites who argue that the war on Terror is a put-up job by Israel, that Jews control the media and the banking and political systems behind the scenes, and similar warmed up Protocols of Elders of Zion tall tales.

Intelligence services have become aware of links between some European rightwingers and Jihadists in recent years. Note, I am not suggesting this is of relevance to this case - obviously, it is too early to say.