Norwegian authorities confirmed three Muslim men have been arrested in connection with an explosion outside the US Embassy in Oslo earlier this week. The suspects are brothers and Norwegian citizens of Iraqi origin, officials confirmed Wednesday.
Police prosecutor Christian Hatlo said the men, all in their 20s, were detained around 3:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday on suspicion of carrying out a “terrorist bombing.” Authorities said the suspects were not previously known to police.
The blast occurred around 1 am local time on Sunday at one of the embassy’s entrances. Police said the explosion struck the doorway of the building’s consular section. Damage to the structure was described as minor, and no injuries were reported.
Investigators believe one of the suspects placed the device outside the building while the other two may have assisted. “We are still working from several hypotheses. One of them is whether this is an order from a government entity,” Hatlo said. “This is quite natural given the target — the US embassy — and the security situation the world is in today.”
Hatlo said authorities are continuing to determine what role each of the brothers may have played. He added that police are not ruling out links to “criminal networks.”
Security in Oslo was tightened following the explosion. Police increased their presence around the embassy and introduced additional protective measures in areas associated with Norway’s Iranian diaspora and Jewish communities. Officials said there were no signs of an ongoing threat after the incident, though the investigation remains active.
Frode Larsen, who leads the Oslo police investigation unit, said one line of inquiry involves the possibility that the attack was tied to broader tensions in the Middle East, reports CBS News. Larsen later told NRK that terrorism is one of several possible motives under review.
Norway’s domestic intelligence service had warned in its annual threat assessment last month that Iran might rely on “proxy actors,” including “criminal networks,” to carry out attacks abroad.
In the United States, Rep. Rick Crawford, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said the explosion raised concerns about the security of American diplomatic facilities overseas. “We need to be very diligent about not only our security here at home, but obviously targets around (the) world where there are U.S. assets including embassies and so on,” Crawford said.
