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Authorities in Norway are continuing to investigate an explosion at the US Embassy in Oslo.
Getting into it: The explosion, which occurred Sunday around 1 a.m. local time, hit the public entrance of the embassy’s consular section in the Morgedalsvegen district, located about seven miles outside the city center. The blast caused minor material damage (images from the scene showed shattered glass in the snow, cracks in a thick glass door, and black scorch marks on the ground at the foot of the entrance). No injuries were reported. According to a Norwegian broadcaster, there were three separate “bangs” that occurred.
As of now, no suspects have been identified. Frode Larsen, head of the Oslo police investigation unit, told public broadcaster NRK: “One of our hypotheses is that this is terrorism, but we are also exploring other options. We have to be open to the possibility that there may be other causes behind what has happened.” Police commander Michael Dellemyr added that investigators “have an idea of the cause,” telling TV2 the incident “appears to us to be an act carried out by someone.”
Norwegian officials also chimed in. Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide called the incident “unacceptable” and said he had been in contact with the US Embassy’s charge d’affaires to convey that it was being taken “very seriously.” Justice Minister Astri Aas-Hansen echoed that, calling it “an unacceptable incident that we are taking with the utmost seriousness.”
US officials react: House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford told Fox News he believes the explosion “may have been a terrorist attack,” adding: “We need to be very diligent about not only our security here at home, but obviously targets around the world where there are US assets, including embassies and so on.” Senator Tim Kaine, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he had been “in dialogue with State Department personnel around the world” regarding escalated security at US diplomatic posts, noting that other embassies had seen protests “merging toward violence.”
This all comes as US embassies worldwide have been placed on high alert following the US-Israel war with Iran. Germany had previously warned that the escalating conflict in Iran risked activating sleeper cells across Europe.
More to come.
