Oslo, Norway Is Rocked By Al Qaeda Bombing UPDATED: Now At Least 17 Dead After Attackers Hit Youth Camp

Oslo, Norway was rocked today by islamic terror bombings at the government and newspaper buildings. So far, there are reports of two dead and many wounded in the attack.

Here's some of the latest from The Long War Journal:

A large explosion in downtown Oslo today has killed at least two people and injured scores more. The massive blast, which was caused by at least one bomb, blew out windows at several government buildings and triggered an evacuation of the area, according to The Associated Press. A "prominent jihadist" claimed today's attack on an al Qaeda-linked forum, and said it was carried out to punish Norway for deploying troops to Afghanistan.

The explosion, which occurred at about 3:30 in the afternoon, heavily damaged the offices of the prime minister as well as those of a nearby newspaper and a news agency. Across the street, the Norwegian oil ministry building caught fire. The Norwegian Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg, who was working at home that day, was apparently unhurt. He has described the situation as "very serious," according to the BBC, and asked that his location not be revealed.

The 17-story building housing the government offices as well as that of the Norwegian tabloid VG was on fire, and the ground floor is reported to be "completely gutted." The Norwegian police have issued a statement saying that a "powerful explosion has taken place in the government quarter," according to the Telegraph.

Norwegian police have confirmed that the explosion was caused by a bomb. The remains were visible of a car parked in front of one of the buildings. Speculation has arisen as to a delivery van that was parked nearby, reports The Foreigner. Some witnesses said there were multiple explosions, the Telegraph reported.

The attack may have involved more than one bomb. A spokesman for the National Police Directorate said that "[w]e think there was more than one blast," the New York Times reported.

As you can see, this appears to have been a vehicle-borne explosive device and there may have been more than one involved. I am absolutely dumbfounded that only two people died in this blast as you can see the devastation is pretty severe.

Now, these al Qaeda punks are trying to put this off as some sort of reprisal for Norwegian support in the War in Afghanistan but let's face it, this is jihad for the sake of jihad...terror for the sake of terror. This is all about reinforcing that those in Europe who have been inundated by the plague of Muslim emigration better be careful how they act now - this is all about intimidating public policy in the future.

Afterall, you could put into the bed of a pick up truck the number of dead Taliban that have been tallied by the small contingent of Norwegian troops in Afghanistan. Bottom line is that Norway has been a bit asleep at the wheel and has appeased the Muslims there - the Muslims are now returning the favor with a statement that they intend to take over the Scandinavian country.

UPDATE:

This story is spinning so fast it is hard to keep up but the latest from The Jerusalem Post states that at least 17 are now dead - 7 at the scene of the bombing of the government building and then another 10 at the scene of a Norwegian youth camp where a shooter, who was disguised as a policeman, opened fire killing at least 10.

From the JPost article:

and hours later a gunman opened fire at a youth camp on a nearby island, killing nine or ten people.

One witness said he saw 20 dead at the youth camp, but police said they had no confirmation of deaths on the island.

"I've seen it with my own eyes, at least 20 dead people lying in the water," Andre Skeie, 26, told Reuters by telephone. He said he had gone to Utoeya island with his boat to help people evacuate the island after the shooting.

Police said they arrested a suspect in the shooting attack and said they believed there was a connection between the two attacks.

Now, I just saw a news feed that says that Norwegian officials are saying that the shooter at the youth camp is a Norwegian - hmmm....does that mean a Muslim Norwegian or not? I probably won't be updating this anymore but I gotta believe that this death toll is going to go up and up - I'm guessing that from both sites, we might see upwards of 30 dead from these horrific attacks on the Norwegians.

Deadly bombings hit Oslo government, newspaper buildings


A large explosion in downtown Oslo today has killed at least two people and injured scores more. The massive blast, which was caused by at least one bomb, blew out windows at several government buildings and triggered an evacuation of the area, according to The Associated Press. A "prominent jihadist" claimed today's attack on an al Qaeda-linked forum, and said it was carried out to punish Norway for deploying troops to Afghanistan.

The explosion, which occurred at about 3:30 in the afternoon, heavily damaged the offices of the prime minister as well as those of a nearby newspaper and a news agency. Across the street, the Norwegian oil ministry building caught fire. The Norwegian Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg, who was working at home that day, was apparently unhurt. He has described the situation as "very serious," according to the BBC, and asked that his location not be revealed.

The 17-story building housing the government offices as well as that of the Norwegian tabloid VG was on fire, and the ground floor is reported to be "completely gutted." The Norwegian police have issued a statement saying that a "powerful explosion has taken place in the government quarter," according to the Telegraph.

Norwegian police have confirmed that the explosion was caused by a bomb. The remains were visible of a car parked in front of one of the buildings. Speculation has arisen as to a delivery van that was parked nearby, reports The Foreigner. Some witnesses said there were multiple explosions, the Telegraph reported.

The attack may have involved more than one bomb. A spokesman for the National Police Directorate said that "[w]e think there was more than one blast," the New York Times reported.

A witness said that "it must have been a bomb. People ran in panic... I counted at least 10 injured people," Reuters reported.

Al Qaeda-linked terrorists quickly claimed responsibility for today's attack. Abu Suleiman al Nasser, who is described by the SITE Intelligence Group as a "prominent jihadist," claimed the attack and linked it to Norway's deployment of forces in Afghanistan. Nasser also said today's attack was related to the December 2010 suicide attack in Stockholm, Sweden, that killed one person.

"Norway was targeted today to be a lesson and an example to the other countries of Europe," Nasser said in a statement released on the al Qaeda-linked Shumukh al Islam forum, according to a translation provided by SITE. "Since the Stockholm invasion we had threatened more operations and we demanded that the countries of Europe withdraw their armies from the land of Afghanistan and stop their war on Islam and Muslims. We repeat our warning anew to the countries of Europe, and we say to them: carry out the demands of the mujahideen, because what you are seeing is merely the beginning, and what is coming is more."

Another jihadist, who is known as Amir Grozny, said today's attack was in retaliation for Norway's deployment of troops to Afghanistan.

"You have moments to get your soldiers out of the tomb of Khorasan, else you will see blood flow in the streets," Amir Grozny said in a post at the Shumukh al Islam forum, according to SITE.

Today's attack takes place just nine days after Norwegian prosecutors filed charges against Mullah Krekar, a radical Islamist cleric who founded the al Qaeda-linked, Iraq based Ansar al Islam. Krakar threatened to carry out attacks against government officials if he was deported from Norway.

Also, on July 8, prosecutors sought to charge three men linked to al Qaeda for plotting terror attacks in Scandinavia. Mikael Davud, a Uighur, and Shawan Sadek Saeed Bujak, an Iraqi Kurd, both confessed to plotting attacks; the third suspect, David Jakobsen, an Uzbek, was released last year.

Today's attack is the first on Norwegian soil since World War II. The country's terror level has been raised, and citizens are being warned to stay away from central Oslo in the immediate aftermath of the attack.