Blast at US Embassy in Oslo may have terror motive, Norway police say

Other motives also being investigated, police say, as they search for one or several perpetrators.

Police in Norway say an explosion at the United States embassy in the capital, Oslo, overnight that caused no injuries and minor material damage may have been an act of terror, but other motives are also being investigated.

“It’s natural to see this in the context of the current security ⁠situation and that this could be an attack deliberately targeting the US embassy,” Frode Larsen, head of the Oslo police investigation unit, told a news conference on Sunday.

“One of our hypotheses is that this is terrorism, but we are also exploring other options,” Larsen later told public broadcaster NRK. “But we are not completely stuck on that. We have to be open to the possibility that there may be other causes behind what has happened.”

People on the scene said the street was blanketed in thick smoke following the blast.

The blast at the embassy compound in western Oslo occurred at 1am local time (00:00 GMT), sending thick smoke into the street by the entrance of the consular section, witnesses said.