SHARE
COPY LINK

TERRORISM

Kongsberg attack appears to be ‘act of terror’

Norway's intelligence service PST said Thursday that an attack that killed five people the previous day seemed to be an "act of terror."

PST have said the Kongsberg bow and arrow attack appeared to be terror-related. Pictured is a Norwegian police van unrelated to the attack.
PST have said the Kongsberg bow and arrow attack appeared to be terror-related. Pictured is a Norwegian police van unrelated to the attack. Photo by Daniel DeNiazi on Flickr.

Espen Andersen Bråthen, a 37-year-old Danish national, has been charged over the killing of five people in an attack in Kongsberg, southeastern Norway, in what the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) have described as an “act of terror”. 

“The events in Kongsberg currently appear to be an act of terror, but the investigation… will determine in closer detail what the acts were motivated by,” PST said in a statement.

At an earlier press conference on Thursday, the police said that they had been in contact with the man previously over their fears he had been radicalised and confirmed he had converted to Islam.

“We’re talking about a convert to Islam,” Norwegian police official Ole Bredrup Saeverud told reporters on Thursday, adding: “There were fears linked to radicalisation previously.”

Reports that linked him to radicalisation pre-dated this year, Saeverud said.

“We haven’t had any reports about him in 2021, but earlier,” he added.

READ MORE: Who is the Kongsberg attacker and what was his motive?

Norwegian public broadcaster NRK are reporting that the man has previously been convicted of burglary and purchasing a small quantity of hashish. The media outlet have also reported that the man was handed a restraining order last year. These reports have not been confirmed by Norwegian police.

According to Norwegian media, the suspect was answering police questions whilst police official Saeverud said the 37-year-old suspect had confessed during questioning.

“He is cooperating and is giving detailed statements regarding this event,” his defence lawyer Fredrik Neumann told public broadcaster NRK.

In addition to the five people that were killed, a further three were injured.

Kongsberg attack: What we know so far

Police first gained a visual on the attacker at 6:18pm Wednesday and were shot at with the bow and arrows. They then lost contact with the 37-year-old, senior officer Ole Bredrup Sæverud said at a briefing on Thursday.

He was arrested at 6:47pm. The fatalities are thought to have occurred between 6:18pm and 6:47pm, meaning the killings took place after police first came into contact with the attacker. That is according to reports in several Norwegian media including NRK.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

TERRORISM

Italian police arrest Algerian wanted for alleged IS ties

Police in Milan said on Thursday they had arrested a 37-year-old Algerian man in the subway, later discovering he was wanted for alleged ties to Islamic State.

Italian police arrest Algerian wanted for alleged IS ties

When stopped by police officers for a routine check, the man became “particularly aggressive”, said police in Milan, who added the arrest took place “in recent days”.

He was “repeatedly shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ while attempting to grab from his backpack an object that turned out to be a knife with a blade more than 12cm (nearly five inches) long,” they said in a statement.

The man was later found to be wanted by authorities in Algeria, suspected since 2015 of belonging to “Islamic State militias and employed in the Syrian-Iraqi theatre of war,” police said.

Police said the suspect was unknown to Italian authorities.

The man is currently in Milan’s San Vittore prison and awaiting extradition, they added.

Jihadist group IS proclaimed a “caliphate” in 2014 across swathes of Syria and Iraq, launching a reign of terror that continues with hit-and-run attacks and ambushes.

SHOW COMMENTS