Norway: Islamist suspect suspected of ‘terrorist’ attack mentally ill

LAST UPDATE: 17.10

The suspect, who was arrested for yesterday’s attack with two dead and 21 wounded in Oslo, is considered to be a radical Islamist who was suffering from a mental illness, the Norwegian secret service, the PST, announced today.

The suspect arrested after the shootings that took place around 01:00 local time (02:00 Greek time) outside two nightclubs, one of which was a gay club, in the center of Oslo, is a 42-year-old Norwegian of Iranian origin. clarified a police officer of the Norwegian capital.

His name has not been released, and he has been known to the intelligence services since 2015, which are also in charge of counter-terrorism, PST added.

He had also been involved with police in the past for minor offenses, such as carrying a knife or even being convicted of drug possession.

Norwegian police say they are treating the attack as a “terrorist act”.

The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of the Per På hjørnet pub, killing two people, and then in front of the adjacent London Pub gay club in the heart of the crowded Norwegian capital on a hot summer night.

The suspect was arrested at 01:19 (02:19 Greek time), five minutes after the first notifications.

French President Emmanuel Macron today called for unity “against hatred” and “the barbarity of an Islamist terrorist”.

“Oslo was struck last night by the barbarity of an Islamist terrorist. My heartfelt thoughts are with the victims and their families, with the wounded, with the Norwegian people,” the French president wrote on Twitter.

“In the face of hatred, we will always be stronger united,” he added.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmamen today called on prefects to step up security around LGBTQI + community rallies during “pride marches” across France.

“The dramatic events that took place yesterday in Oslo, the motives of which have not yet been fully established, require an increase in general vigilance,” the minister wrote in a telegram accessed by Agence France-Presse.

Norway, a generally calm country, was rocked by a bloody attack on July 22, 2011.

That day, far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people in a bomb attack on the government headquarters in Oslo and then opened fire indiscriminately on those who took part in a Labor youth camp on the island of Uteja.

Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ