Oslo: An explosion struck the United States embassy in Oslo, Norway, early on Sunday, raising questions on whether the ongoing crisis in the Gulf has got extended far into Europe.
A bomb squad and police helicopters scrambled to the scene. Norwegian authorities say that investigation is still in its earliest stages.
Sources, however, said that an apparent act of sabotage targeted the consular section of the American diplomatic compound in western Oslo at approximately 1 am local time (0000 GMT), causing minor structural damage but no casualties.
“Around 1.00 am we received several reports of an explosion. We arrived shortly afterwards and confirmed that there had been an explosion that hit the US embassy,” police incident commander Mikael Dellemyr told public broadcaster NRK.
He told NRK that the blast struck the entrance to the embassy’s consular section, but declined to elaborate on its nature or origin.
“We are not going to comment on anything related to the type of damage, what it is that has exploded and similar details, beyond the fact that there has been an explosion,” Dellemyr said, citing the early stage of the investigation.
In a subsequent statement to broadcaster TV2, he indicated that investigators are not t
reating this as an accident. Police “have an idea of the cause,” he said, adding: “It appears to us that this is an act carried out by someone.” Investigators were speaking to witnesses, TV2 reported, and a bomb squad had been deployed to the scene. No additional explosive devices were found in the vicinity.
A 16-year-old identified only as Edvard told TV2 that he was watching television when the detonation jolted him from his seat.
“My mother and I first thought it came from our house so we looked around a little, but then we saw the flashing lights outside the window and a ton of police,” he said.
The scene that greeted him was far from routine. “There were police dogs and drones and police with automatic weapons and helicopters in the air,” he said.
The Oslo police department confirmed a significant deployment on site and said that investigators remained in contact with embassy officials throughout, as reported by Mint.
Despite the scale of the emergency response, the physical damage to the embassy was confirmed to be limited. “There is minor damage,” Dellemyr said. The Oslo police department separately stated that no injuries had been reported, and that authorities were “in a dialogue with the embassy” regarding the incident.
The United States embassy did not respond to requests for comment outside of regular business hours. The US State Department similarly did not issue an immediate statement.
The explosion comes at a time when US embassies across the Middle East have placed on heightened alert following American military operations against Tehran. Iran has retaliated by striking US assets in Gulf countries.