An enormous blast struck Norway’s government centre in central Oslo on Friday, killing at least seven individuals as well as wounding at least 15 other people. The six-story building which was most heavily damaged included the oil ministry and is also next to the building which houses the office of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. The PM was unharmed in the blast and is also now operating out of an undisclosed vicinity. Witness testimony and damage in the scene are consistent with reports of a car bombing.
Shocked office employees and civil servants working within the vicinity of the bombed building stated two explosions could be heard in close succession. The sound of the explosions echoed throughout the city just prior to 3:30 p.m. local time. Giant clouds of light-colored smoke continued to elevate hundreds of feet into the air over the city.
Images and television footage confirmed windows blown out inside the 17-story office building throughout the street from the oil ministry, and also the street and plaza areas on each side had been covered with glass and debris.
Norwegian authorities are stating now that the explosion in Oslo and the shooting in Utoya are connected. The gunman dressed as a police officer and shot up a youth center on Utoya Island. The gunman is stated to be 6ft3in and Blonde and ‘norwegian looking.’ Seven are reportedly dead in the shootings. No Britons are reportedly dead during the explosion.
Will McCants tweeted that Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami (Helpers of Global Jihad) are declaring responsibilty attacks. McCants states that it had been because of the occupation of Afghanistan and also the insults to the Prophet Mohammed that they attacked. The Telegraph reported that this information “has come from via Shmukh, an elite jihadi forum.”
The official British Foreign Office statement from the Foreign Secretary mentioned: “I send my deepest condolences to all those who have lost relatives or been injured in today