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At least two dead and more than 20 injured in an attack on an LGBTI bar in Oslo

2022-06-25T15:19:06.016Z


Norwegian police have arrested the alleged assailant and are investigating the attack as an act of Islamist terrorism.


Norway investigates as an act of extremist Islamist terrorism the attack that has already left at least two dead and 21 injured, ten of them seriously, in an LGBTI venue in the capital, Oslo, on the night between Friday and Saturday.

The police have arrested the suspected attacker near the scene and all events related to the Oslo Pride parade have been cancelled.

The shooting occurred around one in the morning in front of a pub, Per p hjrnet, causing two victims, and then continued outside the London Pub gay club, on Rosenkrantz street, in the heart of Oslo.

Norwegian intelligence services are investigating the events as an act of extremist Islamist terrorism, they have reported, without adding further details, although they have also noted that the suspect had a "history of mental illness."

Shortly after the incident, the police have arrested as the alleged perpetrator of the attack a 42-year-old man, a Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, known to the authorities for having committed minor offenses such as carrying a knife or possession of narcotics, as explained by a responsible of the police, Christian Hatlo.

Since 2015, the suspect was under the radar of the police due to the danger of radicalization.

He has been charged with murder, attempted murder and terrorist attack.

Two weapons were seized at the scene: an automatic weapon and a handgun, which Hatlo described as "old."

“We are investigating whether the objective was the celebration of gay pride or if there are other reasons,” police sources have indicated.

At first, the agents reported that it was "an unclear situation", in which the participation of several attackers was being studied.

"All indications point to a lone assailant," police spokesman Tore Barstad later said, as reported by broadcaster NRK.

A witness to the events, quoted by Reuters, Bili Blum-Jansen, hid in a basement of the attacked premises along with "80 or 100 other people."

“I had a bit of a panic and thought that if the shooter or shooters came, we would all end up dead,” she said.

Other witnesses have described the chaos that broke out in the premises when the shooting began.

"There were a lot of people crying, the wounded were screaming, people were distressed and scared, very very scared," Marcus Nybakken, who was able to leave the bar when the attack began, also told Reuters.

The gay pride parade scheduled for this Saturday afternoon has been cancelled, as well as all events related to Oslo Pride on the recommendation of the police to avoid further threats.

"Soon we will be proud and visible again, but today we will celebrate and share Pride celebrations from home," added Inger Kristin Haugsevje, head of Oslo Pride, and Inge Alexander Gjestvang, leader of FRI, Association for Gender Diversity and Sexuality.

King Harald has signaled that the royal family is devastated by the attack.

"We must remain united and defend our values: freedom, diversity and respect for each other," added the monarch.

"Norway is a community of trust where everyone should feel safe on a Saturday night," said Norwegian Minister for Justice and Public Safety Emilie Enger Mehl.

For his part, the Norwegian Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, has stated that "the shooting outside the London Pub in Oslo represents a terrible attack on innocent people."

"We still do not know the reasons for this terrible act, but I want to say to homosexual people who are afraid, that we are with them," he wrote in a message posted on Facebook.

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-06-25

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