Norwegian police arrest three brothers over Oslo US embassy bombing

Norwegian police said they had apprehended three brothers suspected of carrying out March 8 bombing at the United States Embassy in Oslo, in an attack investigators have described as an act of terrorism.

The powerful early-morning blast from an improvised explosive device (IED) damaged the entrance to the embassy’s consular section but caused no injuries, authorities said, Reuters reports.

The three suspects, all in their 20s, are Norwegian citizens with a family background from Iraq, according to police.

“They are suspected of a ⁠terror bombing,” Police Attorney Christian Hatlo told reporters.

“We believe they detonated a powerful bomb at the U.S. embassy with the intention of taking lives or causing significant damage,” Hatlo said, adding that none of the suspects had so far been interrogated.

Investigators believe one of the brothers planted the explosive device, while the other two were involved in the planning of the attack. The suspects, whose identities have not been released, had not previously been under police investigation, Hatlo said.

A lawyer representing one of the men told reporters he had only briefly met with his client and said it was too early to determine how the suspect would plead. Lawyers for the other two suspects did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.

Norway’s Minister of Justice and Public Security, Astri Aas-Hansen, said the arrests marked a significant development in the case.

“Although it is early in the investigation, it is important that the police have achieved what they characterise as a breakthrough in the case,” she said in a statement.

Police had earlier released images of one of the suspects, showing a hooded individual wearing dark clothing and carrying a bag or rucksack, though the person’s face was not visible.

Investigators said on March 9 that one possible explanation was that the bombing was “an act of terrorism” linked to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, though other motives are also being examined.

Hatlo said authorities are now investigating whether the attack may have been carried out on behalf of a foreign state, while continuing to explore other potential motives.

Security concerns have risen across Europe amid escalating tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran, with air strikes and retaliatory attacks taking place in the Middle East.

In a separate incident on March 9, a synagogue in Liège, Belgium, was damaged by a blast that authorities described as an antisemitic attack, though it remains unclear who was responsible.

By Vafa Guliyeva